Restoring Japan Tourism "A Tall Order"

A recent article by the Japan Times (online edition) on the troubled Japanese tourism industry repeats the points I've made here.



For example:

Foreign tourist numbers have been plunging since the March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, and not only for visitors to the disaster zone.



The soaring yen is another factor discouraging visitation, but experts nonetheless hope to woo more foreign tourists, hoping they can stimulate an economy with a population that is rapidly aging and on the decline.

The article posed many questions and provided answers. Here is one:

How big an impact did the Great East Japan Earthquake have on foreign tourism?



Compared with a year earlier, foreign tourism since the catastrophe had plunged 50 percent from the previous year to 1,786,000 as of July 31, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.



Between March 12 and 31, visitor numbers sank by 72.7 percent.



The rate of decline has since eased, with July's numbers off 36.1 percent from a year ago.



The Tohoku region saw the most severe plunge in tourism, but other regions also suffered from canceled international flights as demand sank after the disasters, agency officials said.

The primary reason for the drop in foreign tourism to Japan has been placed on the ongoing problems of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Until the problem is resolved, tourism to Japan won't bounce back anytime soon.



As the title of the article states "Restoring foreign tourism tall order." Indeed.



To read the full article, go here.