ONOMICHI, Hiroshima -- The city government of Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, recently announced that the number of tourists who visited the city in 2017 totaled 6.8 million, up by 51,600 from the previous year.
The number has increased for nine consecutive years. Cyclists among the tourists increased by about 10 percent.
The figures were estimated by the city government's tourism section based on such data as the numbers of users of public transportation and facilities for tourists.
Looking at areas that existed separately before a merger of municipalities formed the current city area of Onomichi, the number of tourists who visited the old city area of Onomichi rose 0.9 percent to 4.446 million.
Those who visited the Mukaishima area, where new commercial facilities increased, rose 2.9 percent to 361,500.
Those who visited the Setodacho area in Ikuchijima island rose 7.1 percent to 716,400. The area is popular for the Kousanji Museum and Mirai Shin no Oka (the Hill of Hope).
On the other hand, the number of tourists to the Mitsugi area fell 7.7 percent to 466,900. The number in the area has been on the decline due to the opening of the whole length of the Chugoku Yamanami Kaido expressway in 2015.
The number of tourists to Innoshima island fell 0.7 percent to 809,800.
The number of tourists who visited the city on bicycles increased 10.6 percent to 204,300. The number of foreign tourists to the city rose 5.9 percent to 286,400. Both the figures were record highs.
Spending by tourists increased 1.5 percent to 27.168 billion yen. The number of tourists who stayed in the city at least overnight also increased 6 percent to 452,000.
An official of the city government's tourism section said, "There is more room for the number of foreign tourists to grow. We want to enhance sending out messages through social media and other means."
Onomichi suffered damage from recent torrential rains in western Japan. The official said, "We desperately hope more people visit here and feel how attractive Onomichi is."
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