December 9, 1999 Web posted at: 10:24 a.m. EST (1524 GMT) by Martyn Williams

From...

(IDG) -- The number of Japanese heading overseas during the year-end holiday period is set to fall 12 percent to 559,000 people, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) said.

The nation's largest travel agent said fears about possible year 2000 (Y2K) related problems are responsible for much of the drop-off in enthusiasm for foreign travel. e virtual="/TECH/specials/y2k/virtuals/story.left.txt" -->

JTB and several other major travel agencies had earlier in the year canceled many tours scheduled to have customers in the air as clocks chimed midnight on Dec. 31 because of worries about possible problems on the aircraft.

The agency had also discovered that many tourists were being discouraged from traveling over the year-end period due to the inflation of the already high cost of hotel rooms in many cities because of century-end celebrations.

The decision to cancel tours was followed by a warning from the Japanese Foreign Ministry about travel overseas during the year-end period and possible trouble caused by Y2K problems.

In a TV commercial that began airing this week, the government advises those Japanese citizens overseas during the holidays to keep up to date with the local news and watch for possible problems.

Martyn Williams is Tokyo correspondent for the IDG News Service.