Sports events will be a key plank of a new initiative to boost two-way tourism between Australia and Japan.
The Australia-Japan Tourism Exchange Year 2013 will create dedicated branding for industry to use at any culture/sport events conducted in Australia and Japan in 2013.
The partnership between the Tourism Australia and the Japan National Tourism Organisation will also deliver content for an official website in both Japanese and English to be hosted by a travel media site, to introduce information of Japan/Australia sister city relationships and culture/sports events conducted in both countries.
Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said Japan has been a market of long standing importance to Australian tourism and continued to be a significant source of visitors to the country.
"Despite the various factors that have impacted tourism to Australia from Japan in recent years, the fact remains that Japanese visitors remain a very important and significant part of our visitor economy," McEvoy said.
In the 12 months to the end of October 2012 visitor numbers from Japan to Australia lifted by three percent to more than 348,000 for the year.
