## (4) Promoting universal tourism

Approaches have been taken to boost activities aimed at creating an environment in which all people, including elderly people or people with disabilities, can enjoy touring. These approaches include launching an integrated point of regional consultation, and releasing information from websites in multiple languages. In addition, studies have been made to add to the number of tourist agencies working towards the goal of universal tourism.

## (5) Developing human resources in the tourism industry

Seminars have been conducted and e-learning lectures delivered to hotel and Japanese inn executives, who play a significant role in a regional economy, to raise their awareness for the significance of improved management. In addition, an internship model project was carried out for college students with help from tourism-related bodies and enterprises to help them develop a better understanding of the tourism industry and brew a sense of employment in it.

## (6) Inviting Tourism-Related Industries from Overseas

The JETRO has discovered overseas promising tourism-related industries (LCCs, hotes, tour operators and more) and invited them to expand into Japan to help revitalize Japan’s tourism industry.

## 8 Encouraging holiday taking

The government currently recommends that “Hometown Holidays” be appointed as locally unique holidays to meet regional traditions or events for better work-life balances and for local revitalization. In response, the Japan Tourism Agency has expanded the “Family Time Making Project,” which had pursued matching between children and adults’ holidays by encouraging flexible setting of school holidays and taking of paid holidays by workers, to extend support to the implementation of Hometown Holidays, as well as creation of chains of holidays, thereby guiding the nationwide trend towards reforming the way of taking one’s holidays.

Further, the MLIT has been promoting the “Positive Off” campaign, or a movement that encourages taking a vacation in a forward-looking stance, for businesses and associations jointly with the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. As of the end of 2014, 450 businesses and associations have subscribed to this movement.

## 9 Preparing tourism statistics

The “Tour and Sightseeing Consumption Trend Survey,” “Hotel-Staying Tour Statistical Survey” and “Inbound Foreigner Consumption Trend Survey” have been conducted to aid in strategic planning of tourism policies and verification of their accomplishments.

Among these, the timing of the Hotel-Staying Tour Statistical Survey has been changed from quarterly as it had been in the past to every month, starting from the April 2015 survey, to reinforce its immediacy aspect as a result of enhanced coordination with the departments concerned. In addition, the sample size per quarter for the Inbound Foreigner Consumption Trend Survey has been changed from 6,600 to 9,700 to reflect an increase in the number of airports and ports under survey from 11 to 18 and an increase in the number of natinos and regions under survey from 18 to 20 markets, including Italy and Spain, starting from the January-March 2015 survey, to gain a more precise insight into the status of inbound foreign tourists.

PR activities have also been stage at each individual Transport Bureau, including holding explanatory sessions for prefectural and municipal authorities, think tanks and the press.