U.S. still tops Japanese popular destination list<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): The United States was the top destination for
\nJapanese travelers last year while Hong Kong replaced South Korea
\nas the second most popular destination, a government report
\nshowed yesterday.<\/p>\n
The annual report on tourism, compiled by the prime minister's
\noffice, showed the number of Japanese traveling to Italy, Hong
\nKong, Spain and Indonesia rising by more than 25 percent from the
\nprevious year.<\/p>\n
Smaller increases were recorded for other countries among the
\ntop 20 destinations -- with the notable exceptions of South Korea
\nand France, where the number of Japanese travelers dropped by
\naround eight percent.<\/p>\n
Overall, the number of Japanese traveling abroad grew eight
\npercent to a record 16.69 million, the fifth increase in a row
\ndespite the weaker yen.<\/p>\n
The report said 5.18 million Japanese traveled to the United
\nStates during the year, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, while
\n1.51 million went to Hong Kong, up 30.1 percent. But the number
\nof Japanese travelers going to South Korea fell 8.2 percent to
\n1.44 million.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, numbers rose 17.7 percent to 1.02 million for
\nChina, 1.4 percent to 835,000 for Taiwan, 4.0 percent to 774,000
\nfor Australia, 1.1 percent to 740,000 for Singapore and 15
\npercent to 694,000 to Thailand.<\/p>\n
The report said Italy was the top European destination,
\nattracting 478,000 travelers, up 30.3 percent. It was followed by
\nBritain with 401,000, up 2.0 percent; Saipan with 392,000, up 4.4
\npercent; Indonesia with 384,000, up 27.4 percent, Canada with
\n348,000, up 10 percent; the Philippines with 308,000, up 8.5
\npercent and France with 307,000, down 7.4 percent.<\/p>\n
Among other destinations, numbers rose 6.7 percent to 245,000
\nfor Malaysia, 4.6 percent to 244,000 for Germany, 12.7 percent to
\n151,000 for New Zealand, 29.1 percent to 130,000 for Spain and
\n5.7 percent to 106,000 for Switzerland.<\/p>\n
The report said the number of foreigners visiting Japan soared
\n15 percent to 3.84 million last year. South Koreans were the
\nbiggest group at 990,000 followed by Taiwanese at 720,000,
\nU.S. still tops Japanese popular destination listAmericans at 590,000 and Chinese at 240,000.<\/p>",
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