GPAC 2009
Meio University
Tourism:
A Consideration of Methods to Promote
Reciprocal Tourism in Japan
Group Members:
Andres Higa
Yuki Oshiro
Fumiya Miyazato
Gerard Miyashiro
Tatsuki Tamayose
Tadashi Ysa
Advisors: Hirono Iramina
Caroline C. Latham
E-mail: edwardm20@hotmail.com
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Table of Contents
1) Introduction……………………………………………………………pg 3
2) Inbound and outbound tourism……………………………..….pg 4
3) Imbalance between inbound and outbound
tourism…………………………………………………………………..pg 6
4) Why two-way tourist flow doesn’t function in
Japan………………………………………………………………………pg 7
5) Strategies for two-way tourist flow…………….……………...pg 8
6) Processes and strategies to increase tourism in Japan
in 2010……………………………………………………………………..pg 10
7) Tourism Marketing……………………………………………………pg 12
8) Plans created for the Japanese tourist office……………….pg 13
9) Significance of tourism promotion in Japan…………………pg 15
10)
Conclusion…………………………………................................pg 16
11)
Reference list………………………………………………………….pg 17
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Introduction
Our theme, “A Consideration of Methods to Promote Reciprocal
Tourism in Japan”, is about how to develop strategies to promote
tourism between two countries with the objective that the tourism
industry between both countries flows and grows for the improvement of
the economy of both countries.
This topic has current relevance and
importance because tourism is one of the industries which can generate
and stimulate economic growth.
Every year, the tourism industry
continues to grow steadily and it has become the base of the economy in
many countries.
Japanese tourists are some of the most active travelers in the
world. However, although around 16 million Japanese traveled around
the world in 2008, only about 8 million foreign tourists visited Japan last
year; half the number of outbound tourists from Japan.
With this
information in mind, we decided to investigate the tourism industry in
Japan to try to discover the reasons only small numbers of foreign
tourists visit Japan and to recommend some strategies to increase a
more even reciprocal tourism between countries.
As 21st century young people, we wish to improve the
relationship between Asian countries and Japan through reciprocal
tourism in order to establish and strengthen friendship.
Our group
members, all Meio University students, strongly feel that this is the best
way to improve the Japanese tourism situation and friendly relations in
Asia.
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Inbound and Outbound Tourism
Definitions:
-
Inbound tourism can be defined as: when someone from one country
visits another country (in the case of this report: Japan) and stays at
least overnight for business or pleasure.
-
Outbound tourism can be defined as: when someone leaves their own
country (in the case of this report: Japan) temporarily to travel to
another country for purposes of business or pleasure.
Statistics:

As mentioned previously, outbound Japanese tourists traveling to
foreign countries numbered 15,987,250 in 2008.

In conjunction with the number of Japanese traveling abroad, in
international tourism, among the top spenders, the Japanese
were ranked 7th, with $26.5 billion spent overseas in 2007.

Regarding the number of inbound tourists from overseas to Japan,
there were only 8,350,835 foreign visitors in 2008.
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
Thus, the total number foreign tourists coming to Japan in 2008
was only 52% of the number of Japanese tourists traveling
overseas.

Of the 8,350,835 overseas visitors to Japan in 2008, the largest
numbers of visitors from Asian countries were from Korea
(2,382,397),
Taiwan
(1,390,228)
and
China
(1,000,416)
respectively.

Japan
was ranked 28th
in
the Top International
Tourist
Destinations in 2007, and 6th in Asia, with 8.3 million tourists.

The major Japanese tourists are:
 Groups of middle-aged females (groups of friends whose
children have grown up)
 Groups of female office workers (young female workers with
their friends and colleagues)
 Students groups (university or college students)
 Couples over 60years old
 Honeymooners
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Imbalance between Inbound and Outbound
Tourism
Tourism in Japan: Status and Target
Imbalance between Inbound and Outbound Tourism
The number of foreign visitors was 52% that of the number of Japanese tourists
traveling overseas in 2008
The Japanese Office of Tourism has established a goal to attract 10
million foreign tourists to visit Japan by the year 2010. In order to
accomplish this goal, The Japan National Tourism Organization started
the “Visit Japan Campaign” in April, 2003.
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Why Reciprocal Tourism Flow Doesn’t Function in
Japan
Japanese (Outbound Tourists):
In the process of doing our research, our members learned that
Japanese tourists have certain advantages when traveling abroad:
 They don’t need visas in order to visit many countries which have
visa waiver programs if their stay is short and solely for tourism.
 They have higher purchasing power for travel due to the Japanese
yen’s strength in relation to foreign currency right now.
 Travel agencies offer a wide range of package tours for travelers
which are all-inclusive. In Japan, package tours are the most
common
way
to
travel
overseas
because
everything
is
pre-arranged; transport, accommodation, meals and a bi- or
multi-lingual Japanese-speaking tour guide.
Foreigners (Inbound Tourists):
On the other hand, international tourists experience several
disadvantages when traveling to Japan.
 Japan requires visas for citizens of many countries.
 Japan is very expensive for travelers from some countries due to
the differing levels of their respective national economies.
 Language barriers can often cause misunderstandings.
 There are language problems because visitors don’t know
Japanese and many Japanese don’t know English or other foreign
languages.
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Strategies for Effective Reciprocal Tourism
1. One method to promote travel to Japan is through various media,
utilizing audiovisual aids, travel magazines, and TV programs about
Japan in countries where it is economically feasible to visit Japan.
Examples:

In all international flights of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways,
video programs of Japan, depicting some of the many interesting
places in Japan to visit, should be shown.

In travel magazines, pictures of famous tourist attractions and
should be included, with recommendations and information about
places to visit, hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.
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
In International TV programs, places to visit in Japan, including
places for shopping, traditional sites and those showcasing new
technology in action, etc. should be aired regularly.
2. Another idea to promote mutual tourism is to create a strong
promotional phrase for Japan. For example:
3.
It is also important to establish more Japanese tourism offices in
other countries, with bilingual staff and media in the country’s language.
3. Another effective method would be a campaign to involve all
Japanese individuals as well as organizations and companies to
welcome and help foreign visitors.
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Processes and Strategies to Increase Tourism
in Japan in 2010
Following are some recommendations for increasing the growth of
international tourism in Japan in the year 2010.
 Organizing international events:
These events attract a lot of
tourist traffic from all over the world.
An excellent, recent
example is the Japan-Korea Soccer World Cup, which attracted
several thousand football fans and other tourists in 2002.
 Environmental education and preservation: Care and respect for
the environment and culture need to be nurtured. Local initiatives
need to be created to maintain urban sites, cultural heritage sites
and tourist sites and to reduce the noise and pollution in big cities.
Furthermore, popular tourist spots should be kept clean and
beautiful in order to give a good impression to tourists. Such sites
will then be recommended to other people to visit.
 Quality improvement: Tourists are always looking for good quality
in services. A high level in service to tourists needs to be
maintained.
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 Increased number of choices: Tourists like to have their needs and
wants satisfied. For example, in restaurants, an extensive
bilingual menu offering all types of meals and drinks should be
available and in Japan’s international airports, a variety of
restaurants which offer many kinds of food, such as Korean,
Chinese, French or Italian, should be opened.
 Increasing
technologically-improved
products
Technology contributes to tourism development.
and
services:
New forms of
technology need to be implemented in order to upgrade tourism
services.
For example, international visitors could be offered
current innovations in information mobile systems, mobile rental,
fast internet, GPS, etc.
 Access to products: On–line travel sites offering all kinds of
products, alternatives and a wide price range should be improved
and increased in order to offer easy and fast access to retail points.
 Seasonal attractions: International visitors should be made aware
of
places to visit around Japan in all seasons and times during
the year. For example, in winter season the Winter Festival in
Sapporo should be showcased, in Spring the cherry blossom
festivals throughout Japan, in Summer Okinawa’s beaches and in
Autumn the foliage tours. In this way, visitors to Japan will be
interested in coming any time, throughout the year.
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Tourism Marketing
Tourism marketing is the process of identifying the needs and
wants of the people who are interested in what you offer and
successfully satisfying those needs better than others in order to obtain
a profit.
Recreation and tourism marketing
The principal products provided by tourism are recreational
experiences and hospitality. However, these are intangible products, so
it is more difficult to control, sell and compare such service offerings
than tangible products such as computers. Furthermore, in the case of
tourism, the customers must travel to the product, but this trip costs a
certain amount of money and time. That is why these are major factors to
consider in the decisions of people on whether to travel or not.
As an industry, tourism has various elements that comprise the
“travel experience”, such as; transportation, food, shops, entertainment,
events, etc. But, the problem is that it is difficult to maintain and control
the quality of the experience. To solve this problem, travel agencies and
other organizations need to work together.
Tourism Promotion: The information that a travel agency gives to
a tourist has to be practical and accurate and should not offer something
that can not be given. This is vital because it is going to be one of the
major factors in the decision of the people. While preparing the
promotional material, the following criteria need to be considered: the
type of customer to whom you are going to offer your service, the
customer’s objectives, the money needed to make the promotion and by
what means it is going to be viewed, for example; TV, radio, internet,etc.
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Plans Created for the Japanese Tourist Office
1. The Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan: This master plan was
developed by the Japanese government and instituted in 2007. The
content of this plan is as follows.
 Basic policy
 Increase domestic tourism by the Japanese citizens along with
increasing inbound tourism to Japan by foreign visitors.
 Try to create a sustainable tourism industry to offer financial
security to the Japanese citizens involved in the tourism industry
now and into the future.
 Create and support vibrant regional communities that residents
can take pride in and feel attached to.
 Contribute to the enhancement of Japan’s view of its “soft power”
as a peaceful nation, in order to establish a respected position in
international society.
The duration of the above plan is 5 years.
Goals:
 The primary goal is to increase the number of overseas visitors to
10 million by 2010, along with a long-term goal of equaling the
number of Japanese overseas travelers (7.33million in 2006).
 Another
goal
is
to
increase
the
number
of
international
conferences held in Japan over 50% by 2011.
 A third goal is to increase the number of Japanese overseas
(outbound) travelers to 20 million by 2010.
 The fourth goal is to increase spending on domestic travel to 30
trillion yen by 2010.
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2. The recently-created Japanese Tourist Office has as its primary
objective to promote Japan as a well-known, desirable tourist
destination.
However, their current campaign only promotes the
most exclusive resort hotels with extravagant, and expensive,
amenities, apparently to attract only wealthy international travelers.
3. In order to attract 10 million foreign tourists to visit Japan by the
year 2010, the “Visit Japan Campaign” launched a joint effort with
local governments and the private sector, started in fiscal 2003, with
“Yokoso! JAPAN” as catchphrase. The campaign aims to attract
visitors mainly from Korea, Taiwan, the United States of America,
China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
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Significance of Tourism Promotion in Japan
There are many important reasons why tourism promotion is considered
important to the welfare of Japan and its people:
1. Contributing to economic revitalization:
Tourism is a
growing industry that will lead the Japanese economy in the 21st century.
Consumption in tourism reverberates throughout the economy by
creating new demands and employment possibilities.
2. Making Japan more attractive: In order to make Japan more
attractive and its tourist sites more competitive, it is necessary to
increase support to human resource cultivation and infrastructure
development. This will ensure a successful tourism industry throughout
Japan.
3. Renewing awareness of Japanese history and
culture:
Revitalizing local communities and reminding them of their
own unique characteristics that attract tourists will help renew
residents’ awareness and pride in their special history and culture.
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Conclusions
During the process of our research, our group members found
several important points for consideration in the current situation of
tourism in Japan and future success of the tourism industry in Japan.
Following is a summary of our findings, which were explained at
length in the body of this paper:

The number of outbound tourists from Japan traveling abroad
greatly exceeds the number of inbound tourists coming to Japan.

The total number foreign tourists coming to Japan in 2008 was
only 52% of the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad.

The largest numbers of foreign tourists currently visiting Japan are
from Asia: 68% (5,683,008 tourists).

The Japanese Tourism Office was created and is designing many
campaigns and programs in order to increase the number of
foreign travelers to Japan but the number of tourists still has not
increased. It is apparent that new strategies need to be employed.

Some important reasons for the low number of inbound tourists to
Japan are: Citizens from many countries require a tourist visa
when coming to Japan. Also, Japan is an expensive country for
international travelers to visit. Furthermore, different cultural
expectations
and
language
problems
can
cause
misunderstandings because most visitors don’t know Japanese
and most Japanese don’t know English or other foreign languages.
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Reference list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism
http://www.tourism.jp/english/statistics/outbound.php
http://www.tourism.jp/english/statistics/inbound.php
http://www.tourism.jp/english/statistics/inbound.php
http://www.mlit.go.jp/sogoseisaku/kanko/english/overview.html
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/business/inbound_tourist_segm
ents.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings
http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/asia/noticias/1060418/02/09/Japo
n-promociona-su-turismo-y-lanza-una-campana-de-marketing-a-prueb
a-de-recesiones.htm Eco Newspaper Alberto Luna (2009/02/25) Spain
http://www.mlit.go.jp/sogoseisaku/kanko/english/overview.html
http://www.mlit.go.jp/sogoseisaku/kanko/english/overview.html
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modtd/33700082.html
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