After all the hype that JNTO made over Visit Japan Year 2010, they failed to get the promised 10 million inbound tourists. They got around 8.5 million (don't have the source website with me, you'll just have to trust me
)
So with this, and all the money they've pumped into trying to attract foreigners but only reaching the tourist levels they had in 2009, do you think the tourism market for Japan will grow much bigger?
Especially from Western countries. Asian countries are where all the hundreds of thousands of tourists per month are coming from, but what about Western where only a few tens of thousands come from, for example, USA per month?
Things could still be shakey from the economy, but Visit Japan Year 2010 didn't do much on the Western front.
I think it may grow a little more, but it's generally looking at levelling out in the next year or so.
There always seems to be an interest abroad with anime etc, but it never seems to translate into numbers.
P.S. As a Geography student, I do find these kind of topics interesting