Posted at 1:03 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2004
Japanese travel expected to rise
Advertiser Staff
The number of Japanese tourists traveling to Hawai'i and elsewhere outside Japan is likely to rise more than 20 percent this year, bouncing back from last year's outbreak of SARS and war in Iraq, Japan's largest travel agency forecast today.In 2004, some 16.5 million Japanese are expected to travel abroad, up 23.6 percent from the estimated 13.35 million who went overseas last year, the Japan Travel Bureau said in a forecast based on a survey of nationwide agencies and industry trends.
Travelers from Japan plunged 20 percent in 2003 as SARS spread. The war in Iraq and fears of terrorism also kept would-be overseas travelers to stay at home.
