Taiwanese tourists have been giving a boost to Japan’s tourism industry. That’s according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday.
The report said that Japan is set to post a record number of foreign visitors for 2014. The number of visitors to Japan in the first five months of the year was a record 5.2 million, with most coming from Taiwan, South Korea and China. Japan’s biggest travel agency, JTB Corp., is projecting that tourist arrivals will top 11.8 million people this year.
Visitors have been attracted by a weaker yen and an easing of visa rules. Also, Japan recorded a net surplus in tourism revenues for the first time since 1970, with the yen weakening about 16% against the dollar since Shinzo Abe became prime minister in December, 2012. Abe’s administration is aiming to more than triple the number of visitors to about 30 million a year by 2030, with an increase in spending to match. The Japanese government is also set to loosen visa requirements for visitors from other countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam. It also plans to double the number of duty-free stores in the country.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan started an unprecedented easing campaign in April last year to end more than a decade of deflation.