Japan offers free flights to boost tourism

Japan will offer 10,000 foreigners free plane trips to the country next year to try to kick-start the tourism industry.

The country's tourism agency announced the plan to counter the slump in visitor numbers since the March tsunami and nuclear disasters.

In the three months since the disasters, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has crashed by more than 50 per cent.

The sharp drop began to ease somewhat in the summer.

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