日本2月份游客人数因新冠疫情下降了58%

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

日本2月份的游客人数因新冠疫情下降了58%

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

2020年3月20日，在日本东京的浅草街，游客走过中谷由人的小巷。(美联社)

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数据显示，今年2月，日本旅游业因新冠病毒大流行而遭受重创，外国游客人数较上年同期锐减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.

据日本国家旅游组织的数据，旅游和商务的外国游客总数从去年同期的260万下降到109万。这是连续第五个月下跌。

"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."

该机构在一份声明中说：“受新型冠状病毒的影响，包括日本在内的许多市场对海外旅游的需求受到抑制。我们将推动赴日旅游，同时密切关注未来市场趋势。”

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.

近年来，旅游业已成为日本零售业和酒店业的关键驱动力，日本试图以此来抵消人口老龄化和国内消费萎缩疲软的消极影响。

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

2020年2月29日，人们在日本松田参观樱花节。(美联社)

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的爆发引发了人们对日本过度依赖旅游业的担忧，并可能使日本政府今年难以实现4000万游客的目标，高于去年的3190万人次，是五年前的两倍。

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

日本旅游局局长田田浩史在记者会上说：“实现这些指标非常艰难，情况可能会变得更糟。”

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."

不过，他表示日本不会放弃今年4000万游客入境的目标，“这是政府重要的增长战略，公营和私营部门都将继续瞄准这一目标。”

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

日本也确定不会推迟原定于7月24日至8月9日举行的东京奥运会。

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.

数据显示，中国通常是日本最大的游客来源地，上个月中国游客数量下降了88%，此前中国政府停止了所有前往其他国家的旅游团，以防止进一步传播。