The number of cruise tourists arriving in Japan in 2014 was over 400,000, that is about twice the number of 2013, according to figures released by the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Alan Lam reports.
Japanese ports received a total of 1,203 cruise calls in 2104 - a record number - with 654 of them from international cruise liners. While cruise tourism remains sluggish in the domestic market, the current rapid growth has been a part of the wider regional phenomenon, mainly driven by the development in Chinese source market.
To facilitate this momentum, in an unprecedented move, Japan has become the latest in a string of Far Eastern countries to ease short-stay visa requirements for Chinese visitors, who are among the largest groups of foreign tourists to visit the country and with indisputably the biggest spending power.
Last year, 2.4 million tourists from Mainland China visited Japan, an 83% increase on the previous year, largely thanks to increased cruise ship itineraries from Chinese homeports, such as Shanghai and Tianjin.
The Japanese government has set a target of attracting one million cruise tourists per years by 2020.
