Japan Tourism: CNN Gets It Right

Above, dusk in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Finally, a news organization got it right.

CNN.com reported on the state of Japan tourism:

Hong Kong (CNN) – More than 10 months after the Fukushima meltdown and Japan is still dealing with the fallout - this time the key industry of tourism is reeling from the catastrophe.

According to government figures released Tuesday, the number of foreign nationals entering Japan dropped 24.4% from a record of 9.45 million in 2010 to 7.14 million in 2011.

New entries of foreign nationals - a figure that excludes working or studying expatriates that may have returned after home leave - made a similarly dismal showing. The Immigration Bureau of the Justice Ministry said new entrants fell from 7.92 million in 2010 to 5.45 million in 2010, slumping 31.2%.

The government says a combination of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the high level of the Japanese yen were the key factors in the decline.

There's been many articles on the state of Japanese tourism, but their only focus has been on the earthquake, tsunami and radiation problems. They fail to take into account the poor rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.

More Americans would seriously consider a vacation in Japan if the dollar could buy more yen.

A kudos to CNN for getting it right!

To see the full article, go here.