According to data from the Japan Tourism Promotion Agency (JNTO), the number of international visitors from January to June increased by 65.9% compared to more than 10.7 million international visitors in the same period in 2023, and increased by 6 .9% compared to the same period in 2019.
In June, the land of cherry blossoms welcomed 3.13 million international visitors - a record high, marking the fourth consecutive month this country welcomed over 3 million visitors.
In a report published by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), it is estimated that international visitors spent a total of 2.1 trillion yen (about 13.5 billion USD) from April to June. On average, each tourist Visitors to Japan spent 238,722 yen, an increase of 54% over the same period in 2019.
According to Nikkei Asia , data based on surveys at airports and seaports shows that tourists from China spent 442 billion yen, accounting for 20.7% of the total target of all international visitors in the second quarter of 2024.
The weak yen is a big factor driving foreign tourist spending, increasing by 73.5% over the same period in 2023 and 68.6% compared to 2019. Statistics show that international visitors in Japan spend a lot The most money is spent on accommodation costs (33% of total spending), and shopping (31.1%).
At a recent tourism event, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: “The Japan Tourism Agency estimates that in 2024, the number of tourists will reach 35 million, a record high, while spending Tourism will reach 8 trillion yen, all within the goal of 2030, the country will welcome 60 million visitors and tourism revenue will reach 15 trillion yen.
The top markets sending the largest visitors are Korea with 4.4 million visitors, China, Taiwan (China) and the US.
However, the growth driver of the international tourist market mainly comes from the Chinese market - which once held the largest market share before COVID-19. About 3.06 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in the first half of 2024, five times higher than in the first half of the same period last year. However, this number is still 32.3% lower than the 4.53 million visits in the same period in 2019.
Fumiko Watanabe, a researcher at NLI Research Institute, said that the return of the Chinese market will be "closely related" to the state of the Chinese economy, especially in the context of the real estate crisis. lengthen. "People are no longer willing to spend abroad, consumption has cooled down," this expert said.
