Japanese tourism industry will attract Muslim tourists

The Japanese tourism industry is keen to attract Muslim tourists and Malaysia is one of the countries with the largest potential, said Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Shigeru Nakamura.

He said Japan had seen a steady growth of visitor arrivals from Malaysia, especially following the implementation in September last year of the multiple entry visa for Malaysians travelling to Japan.

"From January to November last year, Malaysian arrivals in Japan totalled about 113,100, an increase of 16.5 per cent from the corresponding period in the previous year.

"Promotion of tourism between Japan and Malaysia will contribute and enhance people-to-people relations," he told Bernama.

Nakamura said the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) will be hosting a technical visit to Japan from Jan 29 to Feb 3.

He said that in conjunction with the visit, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Matta in Yokohama on Jan 30.

The MoU is to promote cooperation and exchange of ideas on inbound tourism between Malaysia and Japan.

"I hope this MoU will provide additional momentum to the Malaysia and Japan tourism collaboration to further promote the Japanese tourism industry," said Nakamura.