Japan begins work on new strategy to boost tourism

"The council for creating a vision for tourism to support tomorrow's Japan," a new government tourism panel, held its first meeting on Monday. Private-sector members of the council and others have called on the government to set the new, higher target for tourists visiting Japan.

France, the world's top tourist destination, had 83.7 million visitors in 2014, while China, the most-visited Asian country, had 55.6 million. Japan has a long way to go before it can be considered a tourism superpower.

At the meeting, Itaru Ishii, president of a travel guide publishing company, said that, considering Japan's population, the goal should be to have 37 million foreign tourists within 10 years. Similarly at a Nov. 4 meeting of the Economy and Fiscal Policy Council, University of Tokyo professor Motoshige Ito and three other private-sector council members proposed a target of 30 million to 40 million foreign tourists by 2020.

The government had set other goals to be reached in the same year as the 20 million-tourist mark: Namely, 4 trillion yen (about $32.4 billion) in spending by foreign tourists and the creation of 400,000 jobs nationwide. The tourism council is planning to discuss how to revise these targets.

"The keywords are local areas and spending," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, expressing his desire to use tourism as a catalyst for reviving local economies.

To encourage people to travel outside the Tokyo and Kansai metropolitan areas, the Japan Tourism Agency is trying to increase the number of tax-free stores in local areas, and Japan Railways Group companies are offering discount tickets. Other essentials for creating environments conducive to foreign tourism include increasing flights by low-cost carriers to local airports and training more workers who can speak English.

After the meeting, Mayumi Oda, the proprietor of Kagaya, a long-established ryokan inn in Ishikawa Prefecture, said: "There is a lot of wonderful culture in local regions. It is important to communicate the attraction of the countryside."

Another major issue is the lack of lodging facilities. In August the average occupancy rate of hotels and ryokan nationwide was 70.2 percent, a new high, according to the Tourism Agency. Within 27 prefectures the occupancy rate at city hotels, which are convenient for foreign tourists, was more than 80 percent, crossing the threshold at which it is considered difficult to make a reservation. The government is trying to encourage more tourists to stay at ryokan, which tend to have more vacancies, but the effects of these efforts have yet to be felt.

Lodging for tourists at condominiums and other private residences has increased to meet demand, with online companies that connect tourists with cheap and easy places to stay expanding their services. Osaka Prefecture passed an ordinance to regulate this kind of lodging, stipulating length of stay and other conditions, and Ota Ward in Tokyo is also considering regulations.

Yet some condominiums do not have the same crime prevention measures as hotels and other forms of lodging.

Early this month the Kyoto prefectural police launched an investigation into parties that were allegedly using condominium units as lodging for Chinese tourists without permission. The police suspect them of violating the Hotel Business Law. Authorities will have to figure out how to regulate these businesses while striking a balance with existing hotels and other businesses.