Australia is targeting Japanese students keen to learn English by offering language vacations and "study and surf" tours as added incentives to travel Down Under.
The new tourism strategy comes amid a protracted slump in the number of Japanese visiting Australia.
Figures released Friday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show short-term visitor arrivals from Japan fell 14.2 percent last year. In contrast, the number of visitors from other parts of Asia has been rising.
The government and tourism industry hope the situation can be turned around by encouraging Japan's "study tourism" market.
Tourism Minister Fran Bailey, who has blamed the low Japanese numbers on the Australian dollar's strength against the yen and increased competition from cheaper Asian destinations, told The Australian Financial Review newspaper the push is on to lure more Japanese students.
"A key target of future growth is the Japanese market, from school tours to language vacations and longer-term study and surf tours," Bailey said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070807b6.html
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