By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer for The Japan Times Online
The Great East Japan Earthquake left in its wake, besides billions of yen worth of damage and thousands of dead and missing, a host of problems for the tourism industry.
But now, 18 months later, the resulting dropoff is showing signs of turning around and the number of foreign visitors this year has increased dramatically from 2011.
Among regions, Kyushu has shown particularly prominent growth.
Since the tracking of foreign visitor numbers began there in 2007, a record number of foreign visitors arrived between March and July this year. One of the main factors appears to be large cruise ships bringing in hundreds of Chinese tourists to the region's main ports, including Hakata in Fukuoka Prefecture and Nagasaki.
Recently, cruises have become a popular means of travel among well-to-do Chinese.
Although there were some cancellations in September and October due to the rising tensions over the Senkaku Islands issue, people in the tourism industry say the cruise market is likely to grow further in the coming years as Western cruise lines woo the growing Chinese market, mainly targeting middle-class consumers who want to travel abroad on reasonably priced tours and cruises.
Many cruise ship visitors to Kyushu are from China and take tours that leave Shanghai to South Korea and Japan and then go back to China, said Hiroyuki Yoshida, a director of tourism promotion in the city of Fukuoka.
Source: http://www.offradarcruisenews.com/2012/11/kyushu-sees-more-cruise-ship-arrivals.html
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