Foreign visitors to Japan decline in 2009 for first time in 6 years
Mainichi Japan
Foreign travelers to Japan in 2009 declined for the first time in six years due in part to the global recession and the appreciation of the yen, the Japan National Tourism Organization announced.
Overseas tourists to Japan dropped by 1.56 million, or 18.7 percent, from the previous year to an estimated 6.79 million in 2009, the sharpest decline since records were first kept in 1964, according to the organization. This is mainly due to the worldwide economic slump triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the swine flu outbreak and the appreciation of the yen.
Tourist numbers continued to decline for 15 consecutive months from August 2008 through October 2009 on a year-on-year basis. The drop was especially noticeable in May and June 2009, with a plunge of over 30 percent, as the new H1N1 influenza virus began spreading rapidly across the nation.
In November 2009, the number of foreign visitors, especially from South Korea and Australia, rebounded as the foreign exchange market stabilized.
By country and region, Japan had the most travelers from South Korea in 2009, followed by those from Taiwan and China. However, visitors from the first two countries declined by a combined total of 1.16 million, down some 33.4 and 26.3 percent, respectively, while Chinese people traveling to Japan surpassed 1 million, up 0.6 percent from 2008, after the Japanese government revised immigration regulations in July to issue tourist visas to individual Chinese travelers.
As companies cut back on overseas business trips amid the economic downturn, the number of Japanese tourists to foreign countries shrunk for the third straight year to 15.446 million, down 3.4 percent from the year earlier.
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