日本將提前5年實現每年2000萬遊客目標
Japan is poised to hit its tourism target of 20m inbound visitors five years ahead of schedule, according to a leading industry figure, thanks mainly to the weakness of the yen, a boom in Asian cruises and a surge in Chinese shoppers.
根據領先行業數據，日本將提前5年實現每年2000萬入境遊客的目標，主要原因是日元貶值、亞洲遊輪旅遊蓬勃發展以及中國遊客激增。
Hideo Sawada, chief executive of HIS, Japan’s largest low-cost package tour company, said Chinese travellers appeared to have shrugged off the effects of a domestic slowdown and would continue arriving in robust numbers, unless China’s economy suffered a more dramatic crash.
日本最大低價旅行社HIS首席執行官Hideo Sawada表示，中國遊客似乎沒有理會國內經濟放緩的影響，中國遊客數量將繼續穩健增長，除非中國經濟遭遇更大規模衝擊。
Inbound visitor numbers have been rising rapidly, from 8.4m in 2012 to more than 13.4m in 2014 — and by September this year the total had exceeded 14.4m.
日本入境遊客數量一直迅速增長，從2012年的840萬人增至2014年的逾1340萬人，到今年9月，入境遊客總量已超過1440萬人。
This inbound tourism boom has already clogged the centres of major Japanese cities with tour buses and prompted hundreds of retailers to employ Chinese-speaking staff.
入境遊熱潮造成旅遊大巴堵塞日本主要城市的中心，並促使數百家零售商聘用會講中文的員工。
Mr Sawada,suggested cheaper travel had made Japan an attractive destination.
Hideo Sawada表示，更爲廉價的旅遊費用讓日本成爲一個吸引人的旅遊目的地。
However, while waves of foreign visitors are discovering the delights of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, Japan’s once formidable globetrotters are reining in their ambitions as a weaker yen, ageing demographics and “destination anxiety” about the safety of other cities take their toll. In a historic turning point, 2015 is likely to be the first year since 1971 that Japanese outbound journeys are outnumbered by foreign arrivals.
然而，儘管大量外國遊客發現了東京、大阪和京都的美麗，但曾經不可一世的日本出境遊客卻在勒緊腰帶，原因是日元貶值、人口老齡化以及對其他城市安全的擔憂。2015年可能成爲自1971年以來外國遊客數量超過出境遊客數量的第一年，這是一個具有歷史意義的轉折點。
This trend is unlikely to be reversed. Under the “Abenomics” economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the government relaxed its visitor visa rules to help reach a target of 20m annual visitors by 2020 — the year Tokyo is due to host the Olympic Games.
這種趨勢不太可能逆轉。根據日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)的“安倍經濟學”，日本政府放鬆了旅遊簽證規定，以幫助實現到2020年達到每年2000萬遊客的目標，屆時，東京將承辦奧運會。
Although Mr Sawada is confident that HIS will continue to benefit from the inbound boom, he identified an urgent need for innovation as Japanese travelling tastes change. He has predicted that mundane hotel functions will be increasingly performed by robots, as at his hotel, and is considering a move into the cruise industry.
儘管Hideo Sawada相信，HIS將繼續受益於入境旅遊熱潮，但他指出，隨着日本旅遊品味的改變，亟需創新。他預測，機器人將越來越多地履行單調的酒店功能，就像在他的酒店那樣，此外他正考慮進軍遊輪行業。
