Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori street as they visit Sensoji temple at Asakusa district, a popular sightseeing spot in Tokyo, Japan March 10, 2025. The number of foreign visitors to Japan last year was about 37 million. - Reuters
TOKYO: Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday (March 18) instructed his Cabinet to finalise a national tourism plan for fiscal 2026-2030 by March next year.
The plan, called the “Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan,” includes the goals of increasing foreign visitors to Japan to 60 million and increasing consumption to ¥15 trillion (US$0.1 trillion) in 2030.
Ishiba gave the instructions at the Ministerial Council on the Promotion of Japan as a Tourism-Oriented Country, which was held at the Prime Minister’s Office on the day.
At meeting, it was reported that the number of foreign visitors to Japan last year was about 37 million and consumption totaled about ¥8.1 trillion (US$0.054 trillion). Both figures are record highs.
Ishiba asked that efforts be made to improve the attractiveness of local regions in order to attract more visitors to those areas. He also called for the accelerated introduction of the Japanese version of Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, which will require visitors to report where they plan to stay in Japan before arriving in the country. He also called for efforts to prevent overtourism. - The Japan News/ANN
