Okinawa 2nd best-known Japanese tourist spot among westerners

According to results of a survey by McKinsey & Company, taken among Americans, British, and Australians, Mt. Fuji is the most recognized tourist spot in Japan with 53% of survey participants recognizing it. Okinawa is on the second place that 29% of those participating in the survey knew about.

49% of those responding think that Okinawa is attractive. Only less than 10% of respondents to he survey recognized domestically famous tourist spots like Kamakura and Nara.

The government has listed increasing the annual number of tourists coming to Japan up to 40 million by 2020, twice as much as in 2015, as one of its official policy priorities. However, according to calculations by McKinsey, the target number is 9.4 million higher than the natural increase along with the overseas economic growth would produce. To realize the government goal, practical steps are needed to increase people’s knowledge about Japanese local areas.

Only 9% of the residents of the above three countries knew about Kamakura. With Nara, the number was 7%, Nikko 5%, and only 3% knew about Isejingu, the Grand Shrine of Ise. However, after people were shown information about the places mentioned above, 34 to 42% of people thought these places were attractive.

Yu Kuwahara, a partner at McKinsey Japan Co., pointed out that most people overseas do not know about local tourist spots within Japan at all, but these spots definitely have potential appeal. He added that, “If we can fill the gap, more tourists would visit a variety of local areas, not only Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto.”

The survey was conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, and about 1,783 answered to it.

HAMGAWA4

19:12 29 Mar , 2024