Residents of the United Arab Emirates are leading the way in the Arab world as the most likely travellers to Japan, according to the results of a new poll in an influential survey in the region.
Arab News commissioned the YouGov survey as part of the recent launch of its edition in Japan and demonstrated that the Arab residents in the country are more likely than other Arabs in the region to have gone to Japan.
13% of UAE residents have visited the country, the biggest percentage by far of the 18 Arab nations, which otherwise have an average of just 4%.
Over 80% of respondents from the UAE also say that they would like to visit Japan, with 74% wanting to go to world heritage sites in the country, 47% keen to experience Japanese food, and 46% wanting to enjoy the nation’s traditional arts.
Over 60% of UAE residents who responded to the survey also say that they view the Japanese as being a hardworking people, with 48% viewing them as organised and 44% calling them punctual.
The findings of the survey specifically relating to the UAE were given at a Dubai reception that was hosted by the Consul-General of Japan in Dubai, Dr Akima Umezawa.
Members of the Japanese and Emirati communities were invited along with the media, prominent business executives and government officials.
Umezawa said that the study was very important and gave Arab News his congratulations on the launch of the new Japanese edition.
Umezawa hopes that the new edition will become a general bridge between the Arab region and Japan and particularly between Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Products made in Japan expanded greatly in the Arab market in the 1970s and 1980s, but the establishment of the Japan version of Arab News opens another market to allow news direct from the Arab region to be accessible in Japan.
Arab News and its research partners YouGov are happy to contribute to Japan and the Arab world, and especially the UAE, gaining a better understanding of each other, according to the editor in chief of Arab News, Faisal J. Abbas.
The poll demonstrates that the perception of Japan is overwhelmingly positive in the UAE, albeit still coming with some false ideas that the new online Arab News Japan edition can correct, Abbas says.
The new edition was launched on 21st October in Tokyo.
Abbas says that the company is humbled by the warm reception that it received in Tokyo and that they intend to continue building bridges amid the recognition of the mutual need that Japan and the Arab world have for each other.
The survey was based on interviews that were conducted online with 3,033 Arabs from as many as 18 different Arab countries.
Anyone planning to visit Japan or any other overseas country from the UAE should take out travel insurance before they begin their trip.
Travel insurance helps to protect travellers from financial problems that can arise from issues such as stolen or lost items of luggage and cancelled flights.
