日本2月份游客人數因新冠疫情下降了58%

Japan's visitor arrivals plunge 58% in February due to COVID-19

日本2月份的游客人數因新冠疫情下降了58%

Visitors walk through Nakamise Alley at Asakusa in Tokyo, Japan, March 20, 2020. /AP

2020年3月20日，在日本東京的淺草街，游客走過中谷由人的小巷。(美聯社)

The coronavirus pandemic is hitting Japan's tourism industry hard with the number of foreign visitors plunging 58 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday.

日本政府周四公布的數據顯示，今年2月，日本旅游業因新冠病毒大流行而遭受重創，外國游客人數較上年同期銳減58%。

Total foreign arrivals, for tourism and business, declined to 1.09 million from 2.60 million in the corresponding month last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. It was the fifth straight month of declines.

據日本國家旅游組織的數據，旅游和商務的外國游客總數從去年同期的260萬下降到109萬。這是連續第五個月下跌。

"With the impact of the new coronavirus, demand for overseas travel in many markets including Japan has been curbed," the agency said in a statement. "We will promote travel to Japan while closely monitoring the future market trends."

該機構在一份聲明中說：“受新型冠狀病毒的影響，包括日本在內的許多市場對海外旅游的需求受到抑制。我們將推動赴日旅游，同時密切關注未來市場趨勢?！?/p>

Tourism has emerged as a key driver for Japan's retail and hospitality industries in recent years as they try to offset weak domestic consumption by an aging and shrinking population.

近年來，旅游業已成為日本零售業和酒店業的關鍵驅動力，日本試圖以此來抵消人口老齡化和國內消費萎縮疲軟的消極影響。

People visit a cherry blossom festival in Matsuda, Japan, February 29, 2020. /AP

2020年2月29日，人們在日本松田參觀櫻花節。(美聯社)

The COVID-19 outbreak has fanned concern that Japan has become over-reliant on tourism and could make it hard to reach a government target of 40 million visitors this year, up from 31.9 million last year and double those of five years ago.

新冠病毒COVID-19的爆發引發了人們對日本過度依賴旅游業的擔憂，并可能使日本政府今年難以實現4000萬游客的目標，高于去年的3190萬人次，是五年前的兩倍。

"These are very tough numbers, and things will probably get still worse," Japan Tourism Agency commissioner Hiroshi Tabata told a news conference.

日本旅游局局長田田浩史在記者會上說：“實現這些指標非常艱難，情況可能會變得更糟?！?/p>

Still, Japan will not abandon its goal of 40 million visitor arrivals for the year, he said, adding, "This is an important government growth strategy, and both the public and private sectors will continue to aim for this."

不過，他表示日本不會放棄今年4000萬游客入境的目標，“這是政府重要的增長戰略，公營和私營部門都將繼續瞄準這一目標?！?/p>

Japan is also insistent that it is not preparing to postpone the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled from July 24 to August 9.

日本也確定不會推遲原定于7月24日至8月9日舉行的東京奧運會。

Arrivals from China, normally the biggest source of tourists to Japan, sank 88 percent last month, the data showed, after the Chinese government halted all tour groups to other countries to prevent further transmissions.

數據顯示，中國通常是日本最大的游客來源地，上個月中國游客數量下降了88%，此前中國政府停止了所有前往其他國家的旅游團，以防止進一步傳播。