Japan is due to receive more than 3000 cruise ship visits this year, as the number of travelers from Asia keeps increasing, according to data by The Nikkei.
The number of call ports by cruise ships is likely to double in the 3 years from 2015, as local governments improve ports and other facilities in order to attract cruise liners and revitalize the communities.
The number of ports of call is expected to increase 10% in 2018 over 2017. The top 25 cruise ports hosted around 80% of total port visits last year, at 2230. Japan, as a whole, received 2767 visits, up 37% from 2017.
Cruise ships docked at around 120 ports across the country in 2017. Western Japan accounted for around 80% of visits.
Image: Port of Yokohama (Tokyo, Japan)
The number of calls to ports on Sea of Japan is due to decline in 2018 due to worsening tensions on Korean Peninsula, among other reasons.
Okinawa in the far south, by prefecture, had the largest number of visits at 515, followed by Nagasaki and Fukuoka City located on the southwestern main island of Kyushu.
Port of Yokohama ranked 4th, with 178 visits, up 40% from a year earlier, due to the efforts of the city to attract foreign cruise lines. The port has around 190 reservations for 2018.