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THE United States will continue to be the top destination for Japanese tourists this year but the number is expected to decline marginally because of the poor performance of the Japanese economy.
Some 4.9 million Japanese travelled to the US last year, accounting for 10.5 per cent of the total 46.5 million tourists. About two million Japanese visited the US mainland, another two million visited Hawaii and the rest Guam and Saipan.
Secretariat of the Japan Visit USA Committee Masato Toyoda expects Japanese arrivals to the US to drop by 2.2 per cent this year on 1998 to 4.8 million.
But the Japanese will continue to top visitors to the US, followed by Britain, Germany, France, Brazil and Italy.
Toyoda attributed the decline to the decrease in flights between Guam and Japan and the strong US dollar during the first half of the year. "Moreover, travel demand in the US domestic market is still so strong, thanks to the prosperous economy, that suppliers are emphatic in their pricing," Toyoda said.
"This sellers' market is supposed to be one of the obstacles for growth of Japanese visits to the US," he said.
The recovery of the Japanese market is not expected until next year. Toyoda expects Japanese visitors to the US next year to reach 4.9 million, up by 2.4 per cent. The number will rise further to 5 million in 2001 and to 5.2 million in 2002.
"Most recently, theme parks such as Disney attractions and Univeral Studios in California and Florida are attracting young and old Japanese," he said.
Las Vegas in the West Coast and Orlando in the East Coast are also major magnets for Japanese tourists, Toyoda added.