International tourism revenue in Okinawa up by 36%

June 8, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

On June 7, the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG) announced the results of a survey on international tourists’ level of satisfaction with tourism in Okinawa in fiscal 2012. Revenue from tourism increased 36 percent to 22.7 billion yen because in comparison to the previous year foreign tourist numbers went up by 26.9 percent to 382,500.

The number of tourists flying to Okinawa increased by 30.7 percent to 238,500. Revenue for this category increased by 38.7 percent to 19.8 billion yen. The number of tourists traveling by sea increased by 21.1 percent to 144,000 with revenue going up by 20.1 percent to 2.8 billion yen.

The number of Taiwanese visitors to Okinawa by air and sea was the largest among the origins of foreign tourists.

The Chinese were the biggest spenders. Each Chinese person flying to Okinawa spent 125,181 yen as opposed to 18,993 yen spent by each traveling by sea.

Taiwanese visitors coming to Okinawa by air spent a total of about 6 billion yen with about 10.8 billion yen spent by those who came by sea. Some 85,600 Taiwanese tourists flew to Okinawa, with 47.6 percent of them coming on group package tours. The largest portion of their spending went on confectionery and medicinal products.

Chinese visitors to Okinawa who came by air spent about 3.8 billion yen with about 541 million yen spent by those by sea. The majority of those flying to Okinawa came on group tours. They spent the most on cosmetics, perfume and electrical products.

Most of the tourists from Hong Kong flew to Okinawa, spending about 5.4 billion yen during their stay. They were the biggest spenders on food and drink, on which each of them spent an average of 24,579 yen.

South Korean visitors to Okinawa spent about 2.9 billion yen. They spent money on beauty salon treatments and were the biggest buyers of alcohol products.

The OPG surveyed the foreign tourists arriving by air and sea. They questioned tourists flying into Okinawa at Naha International Airport Terminal Building during the period from April 26, 2012 to January 15, 2013. The OPG collected 2328 responses. Tourists traveling by sea were surveyed at the Wakasa Cruise Ship Berth in Naha during the period from June 26, 2012 to November 4, 2012. The OPG collected 969 responses from this category of tourist.

(English translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

Go to Japanese


　


Previous Article:
Next Article:

[Similar Articles]