Japanese government officials say a record-high number of foreign tourists stayed in hotels in Japan last year.
Officials at the Japan Tourism Agency counted the number of stays by foreign visitors in hotels or Japanese-style inns in 2016. They logged more than 70 million. That’s an increase of 8 percent, from the figure for 2015. The number has grown for four years in a row.
Tokyo attracted the largest group, about 18 million. Osaka Prefecture followed with more than 10 million. Hokkaido drew 6.9 million and Kyoto had 4.8 million.
A large number of visitors were concentrated in a popular belt, called the Golden Route, which includes Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, leading to a lower hotel room vacancy rate than in other areas.
The officials plan to set up more tourist information centers with foreign language assistance in rural areas to draw more tourists there.
Source and image: NHK
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