I would like to conclude my speech with a memory of my visit to the Convention Bureau in America several years ago. The staff who took care of me said, "When we want to sell a television set we explain about its performances, design and special features. We are selling this town in the same manner." In these words I see an attitude we too need to adopt.
Thank you.
Prof. Abe : Thank you very much. Ms. Uehara outlined the concept "to learn about oneself as well the other" as the fundamental principle in marketing based on her experience in Shiga Prefecture and she has applied the idea in the commercialization of the area for tourism.
Mr. Shirahata revealed in his speech the steps taken in the founding of JTB. Here, I would like to ask Mr. Shimizu, as a representative of JTB, for his opinion on international tourism from the viewpoint of one of the leading travel agencies in Japan, and indeed the world.
Mr. Shimizu : Although today's theme is the improvement of infrastructure for inbound tourism, it is outbound tourism that accounts for the major portion of our total annual sales of 1.5 trillion yen. Compared to this, inbound tourism is decreasing. Looking at the figures. I very much feel Japan is isolated from other Asian countries. Therefore, the "Welcome Plan 21" should be a national challenge for Japan in the 2lst century. Let me explain briefly about our activities.
We have entered what is referred to as "an era of great tourism", and the industry is booming. The figures are on page 2 of your WTO material and Mr. Wada uses an interesting graph to illustrate them. With the title of "Tourism Trends in 1994", it shows the number of tourists worldwide to be 328 million in 1985, a figure which increased at a rapid pace to 537 million by 1994.
Please turn to page 25 which shows the prediction for 1994 against actual performance. Here you will also find a map of the Pacific region of East-Asia. The predicted growth was 6.2 % for the Asia Pacific region but the actual growth was 9.6 %. This figure, as you can see from the bar graph, has a considerable impact. At present the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad is more than 15 million, a 12.7 % increase on the previous year, which is equivalent to roughly 10 % of the total population. On the other hand, 23 % of the total population of Taiwan, 41 % of that of Hong Kong and a number equivalent to as many as 71 % of Singaporeans traveled abroad. Compared with these figures, we can see that Japanese tourists number fewer than expected. This is the situation in Asia.
Before talking about inbound tourism, the Japanese should be more strongly encouraged to go abroad with the balance of trade requiring at least 20-25 million tourists.
So then, which country in Asia accepts the most foreign tourists? Hong Kong accepted the greatest number, which was 10.2 million in 1995. Singapore ranked second with about 7 million and Thailand third with 6.95 million. Japan came in tenth with 3.35 million, far behind the first three. The big question lies in why the travelers to Hong Kong do not make a stopover in Japan on their way, a point raised in the "Welcome Plan 21 ." Let me outline the main factors.
The biggest factor lies in the structure of Japanese industry which has strengthened the Yen which in turn has led to high living costs. Foreign tourists to Japan are on the increase due to the recent depreciation of the Yen, but still high living costs discourage potential visitors from abroad.
Secondly, it is very difficult for foreigners to obtain a visa. Basically this is an institutional problem in Japan whereby the procedure has been made too complicated. For many Asian people except Singaporeans and Bruneians, the acquisition of a visa is a great obstacle. From what I have heard from directors of our overseas branch offices, even students on exchange programs and university professors cannot easily obtain visas. If tourism is really to be promoted, the related laws must be amended for the easier acquisition of
