TOKYO – Higher costs resulting from rising oil and food prices are likely to cause the number of outbound Japanese summer tourists to fall seven percent this year to 2.25 million.
Based on current bookings by travel agencies, Japan’s visitation to the Asian region is forecast to decline by almost 12 percent to 1.14 million, with China expecting to suffer a significant 36 percent drop due mainly to the troubles in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake.
Domestic travel is also expected to fall to 73.5 million arrivals, reflecting a small fall from 2007.
