The Japanese government approved the four-years Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan from FY2017 to FY2020 at a Cabinet meeting on March 28 2017, aiming to become an advanced tourism nation for international travelers.
The new plan calls for the following three new goals in the inbound travel market:
1. Travel spending in Japan of 8 trillion JPY (3.5 trillion JPY in 2015)
2. 24 million regular international travelers (11.59 million in 2015)
3. 70 million guest nights in local regions by international visitors (25.14 million guest nights in 2015)
4. 40 million international visitors (19.74 million in 2015)
5. A share of 30% or more of all international conferences (MICE) in major Asian countries
The goal of MICE has been revised downward from a share of 50% or more
In addition, the new plan contains the following original goals:
6. Domestic travel consumption of 21 trillion yen (20.4 trillion yen in 2015)
7. 20 million Japanese outbound travelers (16.21 million in 2015)
To achieve the goals mentioned above, the government is driving 1) creation of tourism regions with higher international competitiveness, 2) development of human resources for tourism promotion and stronger international competitiveness of the tourism industry, 3) promotion of global tourism and 4) environmental development for tourists.
Concrete actions include brushing-up of tourism resources and supports to development of hosting environment in six prefectures of Tohoku for a goal of 1.5 million international guest nights, public-private partnerships for tourism communities using historic resources in 200 regions nationwide or creation of 500 regions for long-stay travels in farms, mountains or fishery villages.
Also, the government is trying to add 40,000 slots each at Haneda and Narita and to encourage international travelers to travel between local regions.
