Sightseeing + Medical Check Up Tourism Targets Wealthy Chinese
As the economy of China grows, the number of wealthy Chinese who can afford overseas holidays and top medical care also grows.
Japan, a close neighbor of China, is trying to capture part of these markets in one go. Nishinippon Shimbun (West Japan Newspaper) reports that the Japan Tourism Agency is pushing for travel tours that combine sightseeing and medical treatment to wealthy Chinese tourists. They are promoting tours that offer travelers its advanced medical technology in diagnostics and treatments, at the same time, its famous therapeutic elements such as Japanese food and Japanese hot springs.
For fiscal 2010, their focus is on the China. They are planning to gathering information such as awareness and expectations about medial tourism in Japan and invite the media and travel agencies to visit Japanese medical facilities. Already there are plans to make information such as list of medical institutions that accept foreigners available to related parties, and investigating the possibility of a “Medical Visa”.
Naruto Strait, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Some local governments have already started their own programs. Tokushima Prefecture, in the eastern part of the Shikoku Island in Japan, already started pilot tours in late March. The tours features sightseeing to the famous whirling tides in the Naruto Strait (Japanese: 鳴門海峡), low calorie delicacy from local ingredients and diabetes screening tests.
Naruto Whirlpools
According to the Planning Division of the Prefecture Tourism Board, participants highly appreciated the smooth tests, they wanted to increase the type of medical tests available, however, there was not enough information or guide books in Chinese.
Yukio Hatoyama (Japanese: 鳩山由紀夫)
This is part of the New Growth Strategy announced by the Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama (Japanese: 鳩山由紀夫) on 31 Dec 2010. The target is to see 25 million foreign tourists to Japan from year 2020; and grow 30 million foreign tourists in the future.
Japan Tourism Agency, established on 01 Oct 2008, is an extra-ministerial bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
Image Attribution:
NarutoStrait.jpg: Chris 73: CC-BY-SA-2.5
Naruto_Whirlpools_taken_4-21-2008.jpg : Hellbuny: CC-BY-SA-3.0
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