観光推進計画 日本の魅力を世界に売り込め

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Apr. 27, 2012)
Brainstorm to attract more tourists to Japan
観光推進計画　日本の魅力を世界に売り込め（4月26日付・読売社説）

We hope the government and the private sector will make concerted efforts to convey to the world the appeal of Japan as a tourist destination.
　官民が一体となって、日本の観光の魅力を世界にアピールしたい。

For the first time in five years, the government has developed a new master plan to boost the nation's tourism. The new Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan contains various policy targets to be achieved over five years from fiscal 2012.
　政府が、５年ぶりに新たな観光立国推進基本計画を策定した。２０１２年度から５年間の様々な政策目標を盛り込んでいる。

The number of foreign visitors to Japan--both tourists and businesspeople--reached a record 8.61 million in 2010, but the number plummeted to 6.22 million in 2011 due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
　旅行とビジネスを合わせた訪日外国人数は、１０年に過去最高の８６１万人を記録したが、東日本大震災や原発事故の影響で１１年には６２２万人へ急減した。

The numbers are alarming--the 2010 figure only ranked 30th in the world. In Asia, Japan lags far behind China, which recorded 55.66 million tourists in 2010, the third-largest number in the world. Japan also trails such countries as Singapore and South Korea.
　外国人の受け入れ数は、１０年でさえ世界３０位にとどまる。アジアの中でも、３位の中国（５５６６万人）に大きく離され、シンガポールや韓国にも及ばない。

We believe attracting more tourists from Asia and other developing areas would contribute to reinvigorating local cities, towns and villages and help the nation rebuild from the March 11, 2011, disaster.
　成長するアジアなどから旅行者を呼び込むことが、地域活性化や震災復興にもつながろう。

The new plan sets a goal of increasing the number of foreign visitors to Japan to 18 million by 2016, more than twice the number seen in 2010. It also expects peoples' annual spending while traveling within the country--including Japanese travelers--to grow from 25 trillion yen to 30 trillion yen. However, both goals are not easy to achieve.
　１６年までに訪日外国人を１８００万人へ引き上げるのが基本計画の目標だが、ピーク時の２倍以上だ。国内旅行消費額も年間２５兆円から３０兆円への拡大を見込んでいる。いずれもハードルは高い。

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Tell the world Japan is safe to visit

First of all, the government and the public sector need to actively convey information to the world to dispel the false idea that travel to Japan is dangerous.
　まず、「日本は危険だ」とする風評被害の解消に向け、積極的な情報発信が肝要である。

Last week, the World Travel & Tourism Council held a summit meeting of industry leaders for the first time in Japan. More than 1,000 people, including officials of major U.S. and European companies and media figures, participated in the event.
　世界旅行ツーリズム協議会の観光サミットが先週、日本で初めて開かれた。欧米の有力企業やメディア関係者ら１０００人以上が参加した大規模なイベントだ。

We urge the government to proactively campaign to hold more international meetings in Japan--which would bring together many foreigners with strong influence in their home countries--and thoroughly promote the safety of Japan at those gatherings.
　政府は、発信力の高い外国人が大勢集まる各種の国際会議を積極的に誘致し、安心で安全な日本を十分ＰＲしてほしい。

A blog written by a Swiss man who reported on his recent walk across Japan has gained worldwide popularity. Such grassroots activities to introduce Japan have a major effect in publicizing the nation. It may be worthwhile for the government to encourage foreign students in Japan to convey the attractiveness and safety of the nation to people in their home countries.
　徒歩で列島を縦断したスイス人男性が旅先の模様を連日ブログで世界に発信し、反響を呼んだ。
　草の根のニッポン紹介は効果が大きい。在日留学生に母国へＰＲしてもらうことも一案だろう。

About 3-1/2 years have passed since the Tourism Agency celebrated its inauguration. However, it is difficult to say that the agency has fulfilled its role as the leader of the nation's tourism policies due to budget constraints and human resource shortages. It needs to clarify the division of roles between itself and the Japan National Tourism Organization, an independent administrative institution whose tourism promotion operations overlap those of the agency.
　発足３年半になる観光庁は、低予算や人材不足で、司令塔として十分機能しているとは言い難い。国際観光の促進事業で重複する独立行政法人・日本政府観光局との役割分担を明確にすべきだ。

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Prepare unique tourism plans

Of course, tourist destinations also need to rack their brains to find ways to make themselves more appealing. Measures to boost local tourism led by prefectural and municipal governments often end up creating duplicate facilities or hosting events similar to those already available elsewhere in the nation.
　もちろん、観光地が自らの魅力を高める工夫や努力も必要である。市町村や都道府県が中心となる地方の観光振興は、似たような施設、イベントが多い。

If neighboring local governments could work hand in hand to create tourism areas that stretch beyond borders, it could increase the number of tourists who prefer to travel to a variety of tourism spots as well as increase the number of overnight tourists. Other efforts, such as selling special tickets allowing unlimited travel in certain areas and valid on different transportation systems, could also increase the number of tourists.
　隣接自治体が広域連携して観光圏を作れば、周遊型や滞在型の観光客を増やせる。複数の交通機関で利用可能なフリーパスなども集客アップにつながるはずだ。

The Golden Week holiday period begins this weekend. We urge the tourism industry to make efforts to respond to the diversifying needs of tourists, such as developing the information infrastructure that would enable people to receive sightseeing information easily on their mobile phones and prepare experience-oriented tours combining various fields such as medical tourism, agriculture and sports.
　大型連休がまもなく始まる。旅行業界には、旅行者が観光情報を携帯電話で手軽に入手できる情報インフラの整備、医療や農業、スポーツを組み込んだ体験型商品の開発など、多様化する観光ニーズを取り込む工夫を求めたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 26, 2012)
（2012年4月26日01時45分 読売新聞）