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Tourism Minister discusses boosting cooperation with major Japanese tourism companies
Tourism Minister discusses boosting cooperation with major Japanese tourism companies

Egypt Independent

time08-03-2025

  • Business
  • Egypt Independent

Tourism Minister discusses boosting cooperation with major Japanese tourism companies

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy discussed in a meeting with the chairman of Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) and his deputy, ways of fostering cooperation in the tourism sector. The meeting was attended by representatives of 10 major tourism companies operating in the Japanese market, including HIS, JTP, Hanku International, and Bertra, according to a statement released by the Tourism Ministry on Friday 7/3/2025. The minister reviewed his ministry's strategy for showing the diversity in Egyptian tourism products, stating the upcoming promotion campaigns will be launched under the motto 'Unmatched Diversity'. Fathy also spotlighted on the State's efforts to develop roads and airports, which contributes to easing the movement of tourists between various tourist destinations. The minister noted the State plans to increase hotel capacity, where nearly 30,000 new hotel rooms are expected to be added during the current year. On his part, the JATA head lauded the inauguration of the 'Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs' exhibition in Tokyo, which reflects the intense Japanese fascination with the ancient Egyptian civilization. The Japanese official invited the tourism minister to attend the Tourism EXPO Japan in September to promote Egyptian tourist destinations. For their part, the representatives of Japanese tourism companies said they look forward to increasing the number of weekly flights between Egypt and Japan to three, while operating direct flights to Luxor, Aswan and Cairo. They also stressed the importance of intensifying promotional campaigns in Japan, highlighting the Grand Egyptian Museum, and organizing familiarization trips for Japanese media professionals and influencers to strengthen the Japanese interest to Egyptian tourist destinations.

Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says
Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says

Japan Times

time25-02-2025

  • Japan Times

Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says

The Japanese passport is According to numbers the Foreign Ministry released last week, around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from 2019. The total number of valid passports in the country was around 20.77 million, amounting to around 16.8% of the total population. This is considerably low compared to other countries such as the U.S. and U.K., where those who have passports stands at around 50% and 85% respectively. Japan has always had a low rate of people with passports compared to other countries, consistently hovering around 22%-24% in the 2010s. But the percentage dropped further during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained low since. A Foreign Ministry official in charge of the survey said that although the government is not sure of the exact reason why passport numbers continue to be low in Japan, one reason that is often cited is the weak yen, which has deterred many from traveling or studying abroad. According to the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), border restrictions that were in place for three years in Japan during the pandemic have further dampened people's desire to travel, especially among younger people. Earlier this year, JATA President Hiroyuki Takahashi raised concerns that the decline in interest among young people to travel abroad and see other countries may compromise Japan's international competitiveness in the future. 'International exchange is based on mutually beneficial relationships between countries, so the current severe imbalance between inbound and outbound tourism needs to be corrected as soon as possible,' he said. Although there are some signs of recovery, the number of Japanese students studying abroad remains low compared to prepandemic levels. Only 58,162 college students participated in short- to midterm exchange programs from Japanese universities in the fiscal year through March 2023, according to the most recent numbers from the education ministry-affiliated Japan Student Services Organization. This is only around half the number of those who studied abroad in the fiscal years of 2018 and 2019. The number of Japanese students of all ages studying abroad for the long term has also continued to fall, with the figure for 2022 only at 41,612, or about half the peak of 82,945 recorded in 2004. This is in sharp contrast to the rising number of foreign students studying in Japan. The JATA's Takahashi urged the government to spearhead measures to encourage more young people to have experiences abroad, including measures to provide passports for free to young people traveling overseas for the first time.

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