U.S. still tops Japanese popular destination list

U.S. still tops Japanese popular destination list

TOKYO (AFP): The United States was the top destination for
Japanese travelers last year while Hong Kong replaced South Korea
as the second most popular destination, a government report
showed yesterday.

The annual report on tourism, compiled by the prime minister's
office, showed the number of Japanese traveling to Italy, Hong
Kong, Spain and Indonesia rising by more than 25 percent from the
previous year.

Smaller increases were recorded for other countries among the
top 20 destinations -- with the notable exceptions of South Korea
and France, where the number of Japanese travelers dropped by
around eight percent.

Overall, the number of Japanese traveling abroad grew eight
percent to a record 16.69 million, the fifth increase in a row
despite the weaker yen.

The report said 5.18 million Japanese traveled to the United
States during the year, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, while
1.51 million went to Hong Kong, up 30.1 percent. But the number
of Japanese travelers going to South Korea fell 8.2 percent to
1.44 million.

Elsewhere, numbers rose 17.7 percent to 1.02 million for
China, 1.4 percent to 835,000 for Taiwan, 4.0 percent to 774,000
for Australia, 1.1 percent to 740,000 for Singapore and 15
percent to 694,000 to Thailand.

The report said Italy was the top European destination,
attracting 478,000 travelers, up 30.3 percent. It was followed by
Britain with 401,000, up 2.0 percent; Saipan with 392,000, up 4.4
percent; Indonesia with 384,000, up 27.4 percent, Canada with
348,000, up 10 percent; the Philippines with 308,000, up 8.5
percent and France with 307,000, down 7.4 percent.

Among other destinations, numbers rose 6.7 percent to 245,000
for Malaysia, 4.6 percent to 244,000 for Germany, 12.7 percent to
151,000 for New Zealand, 29.1 percent to 130,000 for Spain and
5.7 percent to 106,000 for Switzerland.

The report said the number of foreigners visiting Japan soared
15 percent to 3.84 million last year. South Koreans were the
biggest group at 990,000 followed by Taiwanese at 720,000,
U.S. still tops Japanese popular destination listAmericans at 590,000 and Chinese at 240,000.