Okinawa has unveiled a road map to develop the southern island prefecture into a major hub for international cruise ships in East Asia.
With the three-phase scheme, starting this year, the prefectural government is trying to achieve its goal of drawing 2 million cruise tourists from abroad in fiscal 2021 as part of a broader attempt to stimulate the local economy.
"Together with our plan to build a hub for international logistics and other initiatives, I want Okinawa to become a place where people, goods and information from home and abroad accumulate, and make that serve as a growth engine for its economic development," Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga said at a news conference on March 30 to announce a set of measures to promote cruising.