Despite Corona, Tokyo expects over 8 mn footfall in Oly 2020

Japan is not expecting any coronavirus impact at the upcoming Olympic Games in July and estimates over eight million foreigners to reach Tokyo during the prestigious quadrennial event, said a senior official of Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB).

So far, over 600 people have lost their lives in China due to coronavirus outbreak and more than 30,000 confirmed cases have been reported.

"London got eight million overseas visitors during the Olympic Games when it was held last time (2012). We hope to cross that number," Kazuomi Yamashita, Director of Marketing/Promotion, Tourist Promotion Officer, TCVB told reporters on Friday.

According to him, the coronavirus impact on Chinese visiting Japan is major. Chinese account for 30 per cent of the annual overseas travellers to Japan. In 2019, 31.88 million travellers visited Japan from overseas.

Last month, the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics had also stated that the Games, slated to begin from July 24, will not be cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We have never considered cancelling the Games," Tokyo 2020 had said in a statement. "We will work closely with the IOC and other relevant organizations and review any countermeasures whenever necessary."

About 1.7 million Indian travellers visited Tokyo in 2019 logging a growth of 14.2 per cent over 2018 numbers, said Yamashita.