Visitor arrivals in Japan to increase to 8.45 million in 2010: Business Monitor International report

        

According to Business Monitor International (BMI) report on Japan's Tourism, the number of visitor arrivals has grown steadily since 2001. Although the visitor arrivals reduced to 6.66 million in 2009, after reaching 8.35 million in 2008, arrivals are forecast to rebound in 2010 to 8.45 million. The number of air and sea tourist arrivals continually increased from 2001 to 2007. Tourist arrivals by air were the most predominant, with 8.49 million arriving by air in 2007 compared to 6, 66,000 by sea. Leisure arrivals outnumbered those visiting Japan for business purposes. In 2009, leisure arrivals totalled 4.65 million, while business arrivals came to 1.24 million, both falling from 2008 but forecast to pick up in 2010, BMI forecasts that the number of leisure arrivals will continue to grow reaching 8.44 million by 2014, while business arrivals are forecast to reach 1.74 million.  According to a report in www.officialwire.com, Hiroshi Mizohata, Commissioner, Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) said that Japan is targeting Chinese tourists and has plans to ease Visa regulations for Chinese citizens. The agency hopes to announce new Visa regulations before summer 2010. JTA has launched a new slogan and logo. The 'Japan: Endless Discovery' slogan is part of the country's revamped tourist promotions to boost inbound visitor numbers. The latest logo depicts white Japanese cherry blossom against a red sun background.   Individual and collective government expenditure is forecast to decline over the coming years. The Japanese government's individual expenditure has risen since it came in at USD 15.64 million in 2001 but is forecast to increase to USD 22.11 in 2010. BMI forecast individual government tourism expenditure to decline to USD 19.81million by 2014. The government's collective tourism expenditure is also expected to decrease during the forecast period. In 2001, collective expenditure came in at USD 12.30 million and peaked at USD 17.32 million in 2009. From 2010, BMI forecasts collective expenditure to fall, reaching USD15.43 million by 2014.