Osaka polls foreign tourists as they exit

Kyodo

OSAKA – Osaka’s tourism bureau began surveying foreign travelers Monday about their level of satisfaction before they leave Kansai International Airport in a bid to increase the number of foreign tourists to the prefecture.

At the departure lobby of the airport, four female researchers asked foreigners about the length of their stays and how much they spent on sightseeing in English and other languages, and input the data into tablet computers.

The bureau will analyze the data to estimate tourism revenues and set business targets. Kunio Kano, head of the tourism bureau, said the survey is necessary to see what impression foreign travelers have of Osaka.

The bureau was opened by the prefectural and city governments of Osaka and local business groups on April 1.

  • Ben

    my only gripe about osaka is how they expect people trying to negotiate the crowd of people at the station with a suitcase to be careful of passengers who aren’t encumbered at all (and thus more capable of avoiding obstructions) rather than vice versa. it’s a general rule that whoever would have the least difficulty in moving should move; you’d go around a mother pushing a child, so why shouldn’t you go around someone struggling with luggage?

  • I live 6 years in Japan, 2 years ago I encountered one of the poll-ladys at Kansai Airport, even as a permanent resident it does not apply to me, however the questions where so general that the poll was totally useless. Such general questions as “Do you Like Osaka”, “Is this your first time in Japan”, “Do you like Japanese food”…when asking the poll-lady if I should give any detailed answer as I could not answer all as a resident – she did not know what to do as I did not fit the box. In the end I wasted 20-30minutes on nothing with 2 screaming kids and a lady which acted stupid and would not want to back off. Emphasis, non!

  • Long time resident

    Please define “foreign tourists”, “foreign travelers” and “foreigners”. Who are the targets and how are they determined? Also… “as they leave”… Are the visible minority residents actually leaving or are they “on business” and going to return to their homes (in Japan), “domestic tourists” returning to another part of Japan (where they live), “other category” as many visible minority residents are moving around for various reasons? Sorry, but this type of article continues to depress the long-term foreign minority resident in me! Rant finished…