The government has adopted a set of measures aimed at achieving a target of doubling the number of visitors to Japan to 20 million in 2020, including tourist visa waivers to more Southeast Asian countries. While the Summer Olympic Games that Tokyo hosts six years from now will no doubt attract more inbound tourists, efforts need to be made so that the increase will not end up being a one-off boom for the event but a sustained upward trend.
Inbound tourism is indeed one of the sectors where rapid growth can be expected in coming years even as the nation's population declines. The number of foreign travelers to Japan rose 24 percent to exceed 10 million for the first time in 2013 — nearly double the level in 2002.
Behind the recent increase is the rise in the number of tourists from Southeast Asia, where overseas travel demand has been pushed up by the rapid economic growth in many countries of the region. Asian tourists accounted for 77 percent of the total last year. Travelers from China are picking up despite worsening Tokyo-Beijing ties, while visitors from Thailand and Malaysia — for which Japan waived tourist visa requirements last year — are also increasing sharply.