The tourist market expects to see more business this year, with the number of both domestic and overseas travelers projected to hit a record high, the nation's largest travel agency said Wednesday.
In addition, the number of foreign tourists to Japan will exceed the 5 million level for the first time, with a 7.2 percent year-on-year increase to 5.08 million, JTB Corp. predicted.
JTB's annual prediction says 331.26 million people will make a domestic trip of at least a one-night stay, representing a 2.8 percent rise from the previous year, and that 18.39 million people will travel overseas, a rise of 4.1 percent. JTB attributed the projected increases to a recovering economy and an increasing number of travelers in their 50s and 60s.
The firm's prediction is based on its own survey of people planning trips, a questionnaire to tourism-related companies and other economic predictions for calendar 2000. JTB sent the questionnaire to 204 companies, 109 of which responded. Of the 109, 68.8 percent expected business conditions to improve this year, JTB said.
The opening of such amusement facilities as Universal Studios Japan in Osaka in the spring and Tokyo DisneySea in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, in the fall will also help.