Number of visitors rises to new record

According to recently published statistics from the Okinawa Prefectural Tourism Policy Division, The number of tourists visiting Okinawa during the fist half of this fiscal year rose 9.7% from the same period a year earlier that set the previous record.

The visitors between April and September this year numbered 4,093,000, which marks the new record. The number of foreign tourists increased a whopping 63.9% to 880,800, which accounts for the largest boost in the overall numbers.

Government officials explain that the reasons for the increase are the effect of strong promotion efforts by the prefecture, the continuing trend of cheap yen, an expansion of international airline routes to the prefecture, and an increase in the number of port calls by large cruise ships.

08:51 07 Dec , 2024