1［Interview with the President］Transforming Japan’s Appeal to Japan’s StrengthWith Japan experiencing population decline, inbound tourism is garnering attention as an important industry whose growth can help support the Japanese economy and, in particular, revitalize regional economies. Against this background, the Japanese government has made efforts to promote tourism, such as formulation of the Tourism Vision to Support the Future of Japan in 2016.We at the JNTO have been working hard to attract international tourists in cooperation with local governments, Destination Management Organizations（DMOs）, and tourism industry members from all across Japan. These nationwide efforts resulted in a record 31.88 million international travelers to Japan in 2019, spending a combined total of 4.8 trillion Japanese yen during their stay.Unfortunately, international travel was restricted owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. This dealt a huge blow to inbound tourism, with international travelers to Japan declining by 99.2% from 2019 levels to 240,000 people in 2021.However, the pandemic is coming to an end, and the number of international travelers has been steadily recovering since border measures were eased significantly in Japan in October 2022. We believe this is in part thanks to the continuous promotional activities we carried out together with Japanese local governments, DMOs, and tourism industry members during the pandemic.As Japan has consistently received a high rating in destination ranking charts by overseas media even during the pandemic, we can expect inbound tourism to recover even further going forward.Inbound tourism is a major pillar of the Japanese economyThe Japan National Tourism Organization（JNTO）was established as the Japan’s national tourism organization in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympics. We are a public organization specializing in inbound tourism（travel by foreign nationals to Japan）. Ever since our establishment, we have played a central role in initiatives to develop and expand inbound tourism. Leveraging our network of overseas offices located in 25 cities* around the world, we contribute to the Japanese government’s goal of realizing a tourism-oriented country through implementing projects to promote travel to Japan and marketing inbound tourism to Japan. *As of July 2023.All stakeholders working together to revive a sustainable tourism-oriented JapanThe Japanese government launched the new 4th Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan in March 2023. The Basic Plan presents the goals to be achieved and initiatives to be undertaken by 2025, revolving around the three key pillars of “sustainable tourism,” “increasing tourist spending,” and “attracting tourists to regional areas.” The JNTO has launched a new medium-term operational plan for the five-year period starting in FY2023, too.Realizing Sustainable Regions and Tourism Through Rapidly Recovering Inbound Travel to JapanAtsumi Gamo, President of Japan National Tourism Organization（JNTO）
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