Source::AP news
Foreign tourists are coming back, those money-laden visitors from abroad who used to flock into his colorful store in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, cluttered with watches and souvenirs like samurai swords and toy cats with bobbing heads.
Retailers in Akihabara and other businesses in Japan that relied heavily on visitors from all over have had a tough couple years. Major retail chain Laox shuttered its Akihabara store, keeping only its outlets at Narita airport and in the ancient capital of Kyoto open.The city of Nara, famous for its temples, shrines and sake breweries, is banking on the return of tourists from other parts of Japan along with those from abroad.
About 10 years ago, Chinese tourists, visiting in huge groups to snag European luxury brands and even high-tech toilet seats, bought so much their purchases were known as ‘baku-gai,’ combining the Japanese words for ‘explosive’ and ‘purchase.’
Some 32 million foreign tourists visited Japan in 2019, before the pandemic. The travel and tourism sector then contributed more than 7% to Japan’s economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.To cater to shoppers from various countries, including places like Vietnam, Europe and the Americas, the staff in Abe’s three stores speak more than a dozen languages among them.
In 2011, the U.S. dollar cost about 80 yen. Last year, the dollar cost about 111 yen. Now, it’s at a nearly three-decade high of about 145 yen, and the pandemic restrictions are waning. The tourists will be back.
“A pastoral getaway with deer roaming free in parks and glorious autumn foliage, it’s a destination recommended for people worried about risks of visiting crowded destinations,” said Katsunori Tsuji of Nara Prefecture’s tourism promotion division.
“There are aspects of life that Japanese have preserved over the years in Nara that you can truly sense and enjoy, that spiritual element,” he added.
“The impact incoming visitors have on the Japanese economy is said to be some 5 trillion yen ($35 billion), so we have great hopes about what we can expect,” said ANA Chief Executive Shinichi Inoue._AP news
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