Japan on course to reach 30 million arrivals
With a month to go, Japan is well on track to record more than 30 million tourist arrivals in 2018.
Tourism minister Keiichi Ishii said the full-year total will be a seventh consecutive year of growth.
The country received an all-time high of 28.69 million foreign visitors in 2017, which was up more than 19% on the previous year.
Japan has set an ambitious goal of 40 million annual visitors by 2020.
"We are still at the midway point to hitting the goal (of 40 million visitors) but I am glad that the number is steadily growing," Ishii said.
"We will strive to promote tourism as much as we can."
Japan has stepped up promotional activities after a series of natural disasters resulted in slowing growth.
Kansai International Airport in Osaka and New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido were both closed for several days, causing major travel disruption following a typhoon and earthquake.
A series of reforms to ease visa regulations and tax exemptions, targeted at major Asian source markets such as China, have helped to maintain double digit growth over the past few years.
The country is confident of reaching the 40 million milestone in 2020 as Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games that year.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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