Japan smashed through its monthly and half-yearly records for foreign visitor arrivals in June, new data from the country’s tourism agency shows.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, tourist arrival figures for June 2024 stand at 3.14 million, and in the six month period from January to June 2024, 17.78 million foreign visitors went to Japan. That’s over a million more than in benchmark pre-Covid year 2019.
If the data is reflected during the rest of the year, the Japanese tourism sector is set to beat its previous yearly record of 31.9 million, also dating from 2019.
Increased spending power due to low yen
Driven by the low yen, foreign visitors are arriving en masse in the land of the rising sun, eager to make the most of their increased spending power. The sustained influx is throwing received wisdom about regional Asian tourism into the air, with 18 regions sending record numbers of visitors to Japan in June.
South Korea is the year so far’s biggest supplier of tourists to Japan, sending 4.4 million of them. Chinese tourists represented 30% of visitors in 2019, but that has dropped off by around 25%. Still, Chinese arrivals remain the second largest group in 2024 to date. Taiwan meanwhile provides the third most visitors, and in fourth place now, the United States.
Tourism now ahead of electronics in Japanese exports
Visitor spending has reached 8 trillion yen (€48 billion) in 2024 and tourism is now Japan’s second-biggest export sector for 2024, just behind automobiles and ahead of electronics. But in addition to the welcome economic boost, other consequences of the huge numbers of tourists in Japan are making themselves felt too. From overrun Mount Fuji trails and littering, to anger about hordes of geisha paparazzi in the historic streets of Kyoto, many parts of the once sequestered nation are now experiencing the unwanted side effects of such growth.
Japan’s premier Fumio Kishida has reiterated that authorities need to be wary of overtourism but in the same breath he has announced a national target doubling the country’s tourist numbers to 60 million and taking their spending to 15 trillion yen(€90 billion) by 2030. It remains to be seen whether the answers to overtourism can be implemented, as well as the necessary infrastructure such as regional airports to ensure that tourist footfall is spread around the country.
