Eased visa requirements luring Pinoys to Japan

More Filipinos are expected to travel to Japan as the Philippines emerges as a growing tourism market for the East Asian nation.

Daisuke Tonai, executive director at the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) preparation office for Manila, said the simplified visa processing is one of the factors encouraging Filipinos to visit Japan.

"The interest from the Filipino market is growing," he told The FREEMAN in an interview at the Visit Japan Travel Seminar in Cebu City yesterday.

The event gathered Cebu travel agencies, which were briefed on the latest Japan tourism products and information.

Japan has considerably relaxed its visa policies for Filipinos.

Since 2014, Filipino tourists who have visited Japan at least once could already be granted multiple entry visas good for 5 years.

This move, according to the Japanese Embassy, was “...expected to contribute to Japan as a tourism-oriented country with the even higher goal of attracting 20 million foreign visitors, the growth strategy, as well as the promotion of people-to-people exchanges.”

Tonai also said the increased connectivity between Japan and the Philippines particularly Cebu is also inviting Filipinos to get a taste of Japan as a tourist destination.

He believes that air connectivity between the two countries is increasingly expanding.

In the same way, the official said that Cebu is also becoming a popular destination among Japanese.

He added more and more Japanese are visiting Cebu to study English and for leisure as well.

"Cebu is a close destination for Japanese compared to other Asian countries," he said.

Tonai said that from January to August this year, over 270,000 Filipinos visited Japan, and increase of 23 percent compared to the same period last year.

During that period, the Philippines ranked as Japan's 8th biggest tourism market globally and 2nd in Southeast Asia after Thailand.

In 2016, Japan welcomed over 350,000 Filipino tourists, ranking the 10th biggest tourist market for Japan globally.

Tourist arrivals from Japan to the Philippines grew 8.76 percent in the first half of 2017 to 294,080, making it the fourth top source market for the Philippines.

South Korea remained as the top tourist market for the country, posting 795,085 arrivals, representing a 23.68 percent share of total inbound traffic. It was followed by the United States with 513,443 (15.29 percent) and China (454,962 or 13.55 percent).

For this year, the tourism department is targeting 600,000 to 650,000 Japanese tourist arrivals, higher than the 535,238 that visited the Philippines last year.