International Conference and Exhibition on Rural Tourism
September 7-8, 2001, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Address by Mr N. ITO, Deputy Chief of Mission, Japan

I. Tourism Policies of Japan

The number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad has almost tripled in the last two decades, reaching 16 million in 2000. However, Japan played host to only 4.4 million foreign visitors in the same year. This substantial imbalance between outbound and inbound visitors is an unhealthy situation for the tourism of Japan.

In order to revitalize this stagnated -inbound tourism, as well as to facilitate overseas visitors' full and smooth enjoyment of tourism in Japan, the Ministry of Transport (MOT, now a part of the restructured Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) introduced the "Welcome Plan 21" in 1996. This plan aims to double the number of overseas visitors to 7 million by the year 2005. It also intends to encourage visits of foreign tourists to local destinations, for better understanding of Japan. This plan requires close cooperation between the public and private sectors.

One method of achieving this objective of the "Welcome Plan 21" is to develop more demand for foreign tourists to Japan, by recreating a new, positive image of Japan as a favored tourist destination. Another measure is to lower travel costs, and improve the travel facilities in Japan.

To effectively develop such diversified regional distribution of overseas tourists, "The Law to Promote Inbound International Tourism by Diversifying Destinations in Japan" was enacted in 1997. This law includes three points:

• Designating and promoting "International Tourism Theme Areas", in order to specify particular cities and areas of cultural and traditional heritage and to offer some other tourist attractions in Japan;
• Lowering travel costs for foreign visitors by introducing passes called "Welcome Cards" that allow unlimited usage of various means of transport, with special discounts;
• Improving hospitality to overseas visitors by providing competent interpreter/tourist guides through tourist guide license system.

Many regions in Japan offer a rich supply of natural, historical and cultural tourism resources. Japan is one of the countries blessed with an abundance of natural hot springs. Many Japanese tourist resorts have thus been developed in areas featuring hot springs. Some hot springs are located in remote parts of countryside, where traditional bathing customs and rituals are still maintained. Hot spring resources are protected by the government under the Hot Spring Law, which stipulates the use of baths for public health and welfare, and restricts unnecessary drilling.
The Japanese government introduced a law to formulate basic policies for the promotion of international tourism, particularly by attracting more international conventions and conferences to Japan. This Law is the first of its kind in the world for specifically promoting international conventions and conferences.

As stipulated in this Law, the interested municipalities that meet certain qualifications can apply for designation as an "International Convention and Tourism City". Having been designated as such, a municipality can enjoy privileges in terms of government support in overseas public relations and marketing, as well as in the financing of international conventions and conferences held in its areas.

Thus, under the Travel Agency Law, which ensures fairness in dealings by persons operating a travel agency business, only a person who is registered with the government can conduct business as a travel agency. An applicant must meet several conditions for registration, which include commercial probity, fairness of business and competence in legal and financial matters.

The Travel Agency Law has several stipulations to ensure fairness and stability in the travel agency business, so that travelers' interests are protected. One of these stipulations is that a travel agent must set the handling fees for the various kinds of travel services, and display these fees in a prominent place in the office, making it easy for foreign travelers to understand them.

Accommodations in Japan can be roughly divided into two categories: Western-style hotels and Japanese traditional-style inns called Ryokan. Ryokan facilities and services are substantially different from those of Western-style hotels. Until the second half of the 19th century, Japan, an isolated country in the Far East, had virtually no international exchange with the rest of the world and therefore, had no Western-style hotels.

With the Meiji restoration of 1868, Western-style hotels started to be opened up and continued to be built throughout Japan, though during the initial period they remained a special type of accommodation patronized only by overseas visitors.

Hotels and ryokan satisfying certain conditions and standards are registered with the Minister of Transport under the Law for Improvement of International Tourist Hotel Facilities. Special privileges may subsequently be granted to the registered hotels and ryokan, including tax concessions and financial assistance for the construction or remodeling of their facilities.

The government provides financial assistance for the construction and extension work of hotels and ryokan to maintain specific standards, enhance international tourism promotion and meet domestic tourism requirements.

The Japanese government has also sponsored a series of training courses and the Seminar on Tourism Promotion and Marketing was organized by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), inviting trainees and representatives from the governmental agencies or tourism-related organizations of developing countries. The purpose of such seminars is to provide participants, who would in future be responsible for tourism promotion in their respective countries, with a substantial opportunity to obtain up-to-date knowledge and understanding about the experience of tourism promotion in Japan.

The government of Japan is a member of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), which is the only global inter-governmental organization operating in the field of tourism. As a member, the government wishes to contribute not only to enhancing mutual understanding among nations, but also to their economic development. The government also wishes to contribute to the economic development of Asian and Pacific countries, by supporting many activities of WTO's Regional Support Office for Asia and the Pacific, which was established in Osaka in June 1995.

At the 13th WTO General Assembly meeting in September 1999, the decision was adopted to ask Japan and Republic of Korea to co-host the 14th WTO General Assembly meeting. This is the first WTO meeting to be hosted by two countries. The meeting, called the "WTO Millennium Conference", is scheduled to be held in Osaka and Seoul at the end of this month.

This WTO Millennium Conference has been organized to address all aspects of tourism, including IT revolution's effects on it and also on preservation of natural and cultural heritage. The Conference will also make an Appeal, suggesting the direction for promoting regional tourism and international cooperation in tourism in the 21st Century.

It is my earnest wish that India will send high-ranking official representatives to attend this Conference, which would provide a useful opportunity for both sides to interact and strengthen means for further consolidation and development of tourism between Japan and India.

II Tourism and International Relations

The end of the cold war drastically changed the nature of international politics by introducing such new factors as culture, history and tradition, diminishing the importance of political ideology. Today, foreign policy of many leading countries including Japan contains cultural exchange as one of its important pillars. Cultural exchange and mutual understanding of different cultures provide important basis for protection of human rights, freedom and democracy, denial of violence, promoting heart-to-heart contact and nurturing the tolerance and solidarity among many people. Therefore, culture has become an even more important factor in maintaining peace and security of the world. During the cold war era, it was generally believed that peace and security can be maintained by military balance and nuclear deterrence, and in terms of north-south context, economic and social development was the key factor for peace and stability. But today, after the end of the cold war era, culture is a new important factor, which can make an important contribution to peace and security of the international community.

To illustrate my point, I would like to give two examples:

During the Second World War, Japan had to suffer large-scale destruction at the hands of American military forces. All the major Japanese cities were extensively damaged, especially Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were totally devastated by atomic bombs. However, the ancient capital cities of Kyoto and Nara were spared by the Americans, owing to their importance as centres of ancient architecture and rich cultural heritage.

These two cities are today the most popular tourist centres for many foreigners visiting Japan.

Similarly, during the closing days of World War II, Hitler ordered his forces occupying Paris to destroy all the bridges on the River Seine as well as monuments of cultural and historical importance in the city, before surrendering to the allied forces. But, his general refused to comply with the orders, because he could not bear to see the destruction of such invaluable cultural heritage of not only France, but also the entire world community. As is well known, Paris is now the most popular tourist destination in the world.

These two episodes clearly demonstrate that culture can be a much more potent and effective means of preserving world peace and stability than conventional arms and military might. As such, tourism, which is inherently inter-related with culture, can make an important contribution to the advancement of mutual understanding and friendship among people and the world peace.

Another impact of the end of the cold war can be demonstrated in the new fact that there no longer exists the ideological confrontation between the groups of countries of east and west and therefore, we have no major enemy to confront with, but we are in the same camp and have to compete between each of us. This new type of competition in the international community means that we have to compete with such means as economic power, technology, history, culture and tourism. What I want to tell you today is that after the end of the cold war, each nation has to compete with other members of the international community without differentiating them as partner or adversary, and in such a new international community, the culture, civilization, religion and philosophical ideas can be more important factors than conventional military strength when it interacts with other countries and protects its own national interest. And it is through expansion of international tourism that cultural exchange and mutual understanding among people from different backgrounds can be further promoted.

In this respect, India has a big advantage of becoming a great competitor with its rich historical, spiritual, cultural and religious background. And I am sure that India can become one of the largest tourist destinations in the world with its abundant historical and cultural heritage based upon one of the most ancient civilizations on this planet.

III Friendly Relationship between Indian and Japan

Historical ties between India and Japan can be traced back to the sixth century when Buddhism was introduced in Japan and since then we Japanese have cherished affectionate sentiments towards India and have learned many important ideas and cultural values from India, including the value of human spirituality, deep diversity of religion and culture. A number of Japanese people have been inspired by such philosophical and spiritual ideas, which originated from India. In the modern times, the famous friendship between Nobel laureates, Rabindra Nath Tagore and the noted cultural ideologue Tenshin Okakura of Japan, has been a memorable example of cultural interaction between our two countries.

Thus, Japanese people are very much interested in the cultural and religious heritages of India and therefore, I believe there is great potential and promising future for India to become a favourite destination for Japanese tourists. I would like to suggest that India's central and local governments, together with tourism-related industries, cooperate to establish a ground strategy in the long-term context, to attract Japanese tourists, taking into account the preferences and behaviors of Japanese tourists.

The successful visit of Prime Minister Mori to India during last August, the first in last 10 years, provided a great impetus to elevate our relationship to a new grand dimension in the wider global context. The two Prime Ministers declared a "Global Partnership in the 21st Century" to establish a broad and deep future-oriented bilateral relationship and also to make joint efforts to contribute to the peace and stability in Asia as well as the international community as a whole.

It is my firm conviction that India and Japan, being natural partners, sharing many important cultural and spiritual values, are destined to share our common future.

In response to the visit of Prime Minister Mori to India, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is expected to visit Japan in December this year, to further consolidate the global partnership in the 21st Century.

I fervently hope that during his visit to Japan, Prime Minister Vajpayee will take some time to visit places of historic interest outside Tokyo, including the ancient Japanese cities of Kyoto and Nara, to enjoy their rich cultural heritage and magnificent architecture.

The year 2002 will commemorate the golden jubilee of our diplomatic relationship, which was established in the year 1952, and as a part of the celebrations, the Japanese Government invited His Excellency the President of India and Madame K.R. Narayanan to visit Japan. President Narayanan's visit is especially significant for us, in view of his previous association with Japan as a diplomat posted in the Indian Embassy a few decades back. It is my earnest wish that the visit of President Narayanan will take place some time next year, so that the friendly relationship between our two countries can be further consolidated.

As part of the golden jubilee celebrations, the Japanese Embassy is planning to hold a series of cultural events in India in 2002, which would include Japanese traditional art exhibitions, demonstration of Japanese traditional sports and plays, film shows, etc., and it is expected that similar activities would be organized in Japan by the Indian counterpart there, to mark this historic occasion.

I hope that the private sector and non-governmental organizations in both countries will be actively involved in these festive activities, and understand that tourism can play an important role in this process by encouraging people of India and Japan to visit each other's countries. I particularly wish that the central and state governments in India, along with the Indian tourism industry, would take initiatives to attract more Japanese tourists to visit India during the next year.

Such steps can go a long way in further consolidating the people-to-people contact and friendly relations between our two countries.

Thank you.