Six Tohoku prefectures see record number of inbound visitors since 3/11

TOKYO, Mar. 11 – The number of inbound tourists who stayed at inns and hotels in six prefectures in Tohoku district of Japan in 2019 was about 1,558,000, up 21% compared to last year, the Reconstruction Agency said. Efforts to boost local tourism, including agricultural tours at fruit orchards, have been successful in supporting a steady rise in the number of the inbound tourists since 2011, the year the Great East Japan Earthquake hit the north-eastern part of Japan harshly. The figure exceeded 1.5 million for the first time in 2019. However, the figure is expected to decline in the first half of 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and the outlook is increasingly uncertain.