Differences in motivation and behaviour between foreign and Japanese tourists

Abstract

In contrast to the rapid development of outbound tourism since the 1980s, inbound tourism has played a minor role in the development of tourism in Japan until 2002. However, while their contribution to the overall Japanese tourism market is still well below 10%, foreign tourists spread unevenly across the country and play an important role in some destinations. As a result, some regionally restricted inbound clusters have evolved. This paper will compare three destinations and examine the motivations and behaviour of visiting foreign tourists.