Foreign visitors broke through Nine Million Japan became the major sightseeing place for Chinese
2008-03-09 15:09:30
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Chinaqw News: According to the Japanese “Chinese Journal”, shown in the brief news published on January, 11 by Japanese Ministry of Justice, the number of foreigners entered Japan in 2007 reached 9.152298 million, increased by 12.9% than that in 2006, breaking through 9 million for the first time, which is the highest in history.
In Japan, the foreign visitors increased every year, while the total number of Japanese traveling abroad was 17.297701 million, decreased by 1.4% than that in 2006. This is the first declining trend since 2003, mainly due to the surge in oil prices, which led to higher fuel surcharge and the depreciation of the yen.
According to the latest statistics released by Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) on December 26, during January to November, 2007, foreigners to Japan were up to 7.6733 million people, increased by 13.7% than that in the same period last year, which broke through 8.1 million that had been forecasted. Divided according to nations and regions, South Korea shares the largest number, 2.3918 million; followed by China Taiwan, 1.2922 million; mainland China ranks third, 897,000; the United States the fourth, 751,300; and China Hong Kong the fifth, 383,500.
With the implementation of wholly opening to Chinese tourist groups on July 25, 2007, Chinese visitors to Japan increased significantly. In 2006, Chinese visitors to Japan broke through 800, 000 people for the first time. Especially in July, 2007, in this single month, number of Chinese people that visited Japan reached 102,080, breaking through 100, 000; in August, it reached 99,800 people, which also set up the highest record in August over the years; in September, World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention—WCEC was held in Japan firstly, and Chinese people that came to Japan were as many as 93,200, also is the highest record in Septembers; on September 29, Tokyo Haneda Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport started international charter flights, and the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations 35 anniversary was frequently held in Japan and China, therefore, in October Chinese people visiting Japan were as many as 92,000 people; and in November it was 75,000.
Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) believes that the lower yen exchange rate has promoted the growth of foreign tourists. South Korean tourists increased by 23.8 per cent, Chinese tourists also increased by 16.9 per cent. Opening the whole country to China’s passenger groups and adding Japan-China flight route are the main reason for the increment in the number of Chinese tourists. Japan is the main travel place for Chinese people, and this trend will continue. (Zhou Hong)
