In another boost to operators hoping to stake a claim in the country’s casino industry, Japan has announced that it welcomed a record number of tourists in 2016 – topping 20 million arrivals for the very first time.
Japan’s Tourism Minister, Keiichi Ishii, has released figures showing 24.03 international visitors in 2016, up a massive 22 percent from 2015 numbers. It also represents a fifth consecutive year of record tourist arrivals with numbers having doubled since 2013.
Although final figures are yet to be confirmed, China accounted for 27 percent of visitors for the first 11 months of 2016 with around 6.5 million travelling to Japan in 2016.
Japanese officials are predicting 30 million arrivals by 2020 and 40 million by 2030.
