Published on : Friday, June 14, 2019
Conducted in October and November, the Japan Tourism Agency survey on tourism related problems faced by local governments, showed that lack of accommodation and emergency preparedness are the most frequent issues. They are also stressed with the drawbacks of the inbound tourism boom.
In areas with popular tourist destinations of 138 municipalities, 38.4 percent said issues that require immediate addressal are traffic jams caused by increased sightseeing buses.
Around 25.4 percent cited manners of the tourists as a bog problem in relation to restroom usage, while 20.3 percent listed littering in public places and residential areas.
The agency said, nonetheless, “overtourism” is not a major issue compared with other international tourist destinations.
As far as measures are concerned to deal with visitor rush, 44.2 percent of municipalities are helping with prefectural governments to spread tourist flows more evenly, and 42.8 percent are endorsing rental bicycle usage, according to the survey.
In fiscal 2018, the estimated number of overseas visitors to Japan increased 6.2 percent to 31.62 million.
Japan has aimed on attracting 40 million foreign visitors every year by 2020, when Japan hosts the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Tags: japan, middle tourism boom