[(Title)] Abe vows further efforts to reach 40 million tourism goal by 2020.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday the government will boost efforts to achieve its target of 40 million visitors to Japan by 2020 as it seeks economic growth through tourism.

日本首相安倍晋三周五表示，政府将通过旅游业推动经济增长，努力实现到2020年前往日本的4000万游客的目标。

The number this year is already estimated to have surpassed 20 million on Aug. 15 and is expected to eclipse the 30 million mark for the full year, according to the government.

据政府称，今年的数字已经在8月15日超过了2000万，预计全年将超过3000万大关。

"The target of 40 million visitors to Japan in 2020 is now within our reach. We will swiftly work toward it in the next two years,"  Abe told a Cabinet meeting at his office.

安倍晋三在其办公室召开的内阁会议上表示：“到2020年，日本游客人数将达到4,000万的目标，我们今后两年会迅速朝着这个目标努力。”

The prime minister also said,  "We need to make a recovery as soon as possible from the damage (to tourism) from the heavy rain that hit western Japan"  in July. Abe instructed his ministers to take measures to that end.

首相还说，“我们需要尽快从7月袭击日本西部的大雨中恢复过来”。安倍指示他的部长们为此采取措施。

During the meeting on tourism strategy, the Japan Tourism Agency reported that the number of visitors and their spending in 2017 had increased 3.5-fold and quadrupled, respectively, compared with 2012.

在旅游战略会议上，日本旅游局报告称，2017年的游客数量及其支出分别比2012年增加了3.5倍和四倍。

The agency added the total number of foreign visitors staying in regional areas quadrupled in the same time period.

该机构还补充称，在同一时期，在区域逗留的外国游客总数翻了两番。

In discussions on how to recover from the rain disaster and the Osaka earthquake in June, a tourism promotion body in the disaster-hit region asked for conditions to be eased for government subsidies to tourists visiting the affected areas.

在讨论如何从6月份的雨灾和大阪地震中恢复时，受灾地区的一个旅游促进机构要求放宽政府对游客的补贴条件。

Japan, which will host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020 in Tokyo, views tourism as a pillar of its growth strategy. It has eased visa requirements and increased the number of low-cost carriers and other flights to boost inbound tourism.

将于2020年在东京主办奥运会和残奥会的日本，将旅游业视为其增长战略的支柱，从而放宽了签证要求，增加了低成本航空公司和其他航班的数量，以促进入境旅游。