Osaka welcomes surge in Thai visitors

Osaka: The Japanese city's tourism industry is tapping an increase in Thai visitors and soon expects a new wave of tourists from Southeast Asia.

Dotonbori shopping district is one of Osaka's well-known tourist attractions and popular with Thai visitors.

Osaka Government Tourism Bureau (OGTB) expects to see continued robust growth in Thai visitors, propelled by Japan's visa exemption that began in July 2013 for short visits by Thai nationals.

Double-digit growth in tourists from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam is also on the cards when the Japanese government extends visa waivers to those nationals later this year.

An increase in non-stop flights to Japan's second-largest metropolitan area will bring more tourists. Budget carrier Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) inaugurated a service from Bangkok on Sept 1.

The introduction of new tourist attractions, notably the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios Japan, is also driving tourism traffic to the gateway of the Kansai region, which has a population of more than 22 million.

Thai nationals arriving directly at Kansai International Airport, Osaka's main airport, jumped 50.1% in the first half of this year, with 60.1% overall growth of Thai arrivals through all Japanese airports.

Direct Thai arrivals to Osaka reached 67,959 in the first half, contributing to the total of 343,244 Thai arrivals to Japan.

Most Thai visitors to Osaka enter Japan via Narita International Airport, Japan's main airport, and travel to Osaka and other cities.

Sukanya Sirikanjanakul, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Osaka office, said about a third of Thai tourists visited Osaka and nearby cities including Kyoto and Nara.

According to OGTB, Thai arrivals at Kansai airport have risen steadily from 33,000 in 2006 to 99,800 last year, with a significant increase projected this year.

In 2013, Thailand ranked third in the list of countries with the highest growth in arrivals to Osaka last year at 54%, after Taiwan (66%) and Hong Kong (61%).

Direct international arrivals to Osaka reached 2.6 million last year and are expected to soar to 3.2 million this year and to 4.5 million by 2016.

Osaka has been competing fiercely with Tokyo to become the first port of arrival to Japan for international tourists.

Thailand is at the forefront of its inbound tourism markets and Osaka is making itself known among Thais for holidays.

OGTB plans to recruit Japanese cartoon characters Doraemon and Hello Kitty to appeal to Thai tourists.

"They are already well known among Thais and could help to drive Thai visitors to Osaka," said OGTB deputy executive director Tatsuya Okawa.

Another message Osaka is putting across to existing and new airlines is that they can operate through Kansai airport at ease, rather than being subject to severe time slot constraints at Tokyo's airports.

Kansai airport is handling 750 international flights a week, up by 10% from last year.

TAAX has seen the potential for surging passenger traffic through Osaka and will ramp up its Bangkok-Osaka frequencies from five flights per week to a daily basis on March 26 next year.

Meanwhile, Mrs Sukanya confirmed that NokScoot, the second Thailand-based long-haul low-cost carrier after TAAX, has expressed a keen interest in operating flights from Bangkok to Osaka to give a boost to the Japanese city's drive to become a major destination.

Officials of NokScoot, the joint venture between Thai budget carrier Nok Air and Singapore's no-frills airline Scoot, have visited the Japanese city to gather data to support its launch of Bangkok-Osaka flights.

The airline recently announced it will take to the skies in the first quarter of next year, but it did not provide details about where it would fly.