Japan is witnessing a tourism boom. According to Bloomberg , a currency collapse and a surge in global tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic has seen tourists flock to Japan in large numbers. But what is happening exactly? Let’s take a closer look: By the numbers Around 25 million tourists visited Japan last year, as per Japan Times.
That was the highest number since 2019 – when a record 31 million tourists visited. Bloomberg quoted data from the Japan National Tourism Organization as saying that over 14.5 million people visited Japan from January to May 2024 alone.
That’s a 70 per cent increase over the same timeframe last year. If those numbers continue apace, around 34 million tourists will come to Japan – breaking the 2019 record. May was also the third straight month in which Japan had over three million visitors – most from South Korea, China and Taiwan.
The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure was 3.04 million in May – steady from the level in April, and down slightly from the all-time monthly record in March, data from the JNTO showed. Till May, over a million Americans had visited Japan – a 50 per cent increase over 2019.
Tourists from 19 nations including the G7 group of US, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, UK and France have visited Japan in record numbers in May. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that by 2030, he wants Japan to have 60 million tourists per year, as per Bloomberg. Nikkei Asia quoted Jay Carney, Airbnb’s global head of.
