After 1989, tourist hows to and from the 'transition' countries of Central Europe increased significantly. A rapidly growing trade with distant countries, including Japan, indicate that this region has increasingly been incorporated into the world economy and its tourism markets. The total numbers of Japanese tourists travelling to the region, however, was low and lagged behind the numbers reported by the EU countries. By 1996, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary and Poland were not able to penetrate the Japanese market in the same way as the developed countries of Western Europe and America, The research, based upon marketing surveys and statistical data from national and international sources, indicate that there is considerable potential for congress tourism, cultural and incentive travel and business trips. More sophisticated tourism policies can help remove some of the basic obstacles like visa barriers and a low awareness of the Central European countries by Japanese tourists. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
