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Japan Recovers Its Positions as Tourist Destination

Several days ago The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) issued the report devoted to the state of tourism in Japan. Since tragic events of March 2011 the country has faced tough times, but the situation seems to be improving and slowly gets back to its ordinary state.

In May 2011 Oxford Economics prepared a report about the Japanese tourist sector. That report was quite pessimistic because the tourism sector had suffered from dramatic downturn – at that time international tourists didn’t want to come to Japan and local tourists stayed at their homes. However, despite all scenarios, September 2011 showed significant improvement. The latest study shows that Japan has almost completely recovered from the negative consequences of tsunami and nuclear problem. Improvements can be seen in both domestic and international tourism. Even though the statistics for the year will be surely worse comparing to 2010, experts see no negative impact on 2012 that may become successful for the country. The contribution of tourism to the GDP of Japan may reach ¥0.7 trillion in 2011.

If in April 2011 the percent of foreign visitors estimated -62% comparing to April 2010, in October 2011 the country was visited by just 15% less foreigners. The total decline in foreign arrivals in 2011 may estimate 25% comparing to 2010. The optimistic scenario has become possible mainly thanks to visitors from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Arrivals from these countries were the same as in 2010 or even higher. European tourists also return to Japan, but the recovery here is slower than in Asia. Nervousness concerning the nuclear safety is not the only reason as Eurozone debt crisis and high Japanese yen refrain tourists from visiting Japan.

23.12.2011

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