Visitors to Japan Top 10 M. This Year at Fastest Pace

Tokyo, May 19 (Jiji Press)--The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan this year exceeded 10 million on Saturday, crossing the threshold at the fastest pace on an annual cumulative basis, Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Akihiko Tamura said Friday. In January-April, the number of visitors to the country grew 16.4 pct from a year before to 9,116,000, the Japan National Tourism Organization said. The number of visitors from other parts of Asia rose strongly, thanks to increased flights and cruise ship calls. The government has a target of increasing the number of annual visitors to 40 million in 2020, when the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be held. Although Japan remains halfway to achieving the goal, the number of visitors is increasing steadily, Tamura said at a press conference. The number of visitors from South Korea jumped 30.8 pct to 2,268,200, the highest total of any country or region. Visitors from mainland China rose 9.6 pct to 2,177,500, followed by those from Taiwan at 1,446,900, up 4.7 pct. Visitors from Hong Kong, the United States and Thailand also increased. But the pace of increase in the number of visitors from mainland China and Taiwan slowed year on year. Tamura said that the slower growth stems from severe competition with Europe for foreign visitors. "Japan needs to make efforts to prevent repeat visitors from feeling bored," the commissioner also said. In April alone, the overall number of foreign visitors surged 23.9 pct to a monthly high of 2,578,900. The previous record of 2,296,400 visitors was marked in July last year. The number of visitors from the United States, European countries and Australia increased markedly during their Easter holidays, which were in March last year. END