Japan visitors top 3 million for third month as yen fuels boom

TOKYO : Japan had extra than 3 million guests for a third straight month in May possibly presumably well maybe also, decent records showed on Wednesday, as the used yen helped continue a file tempo for inbound tourism.

The amount of foreign guests for enterprise and leisure used to be 3.04 million final month, smartly-liked from the extent in April, and down a piece of from the all-time month-to-month file in March, records from the Japan National Tourism Group (JNTO) showed.

Arrivals final month had been up 60 per cent from the identical duration final one year and 9.6 per cent higher than in May possibly presumably well maybe also 2019. Japan had a file 31.9 million guests in 2019 earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic shut global borders.

The used yen, languishing at a 34-one year low towards the greenback, helps gas a tourism yell in Japan. That is correct data for the economy, with travellers spending a file 1.75 trillion yen ($11.1 billion) in the major quarter of 2024, in step with the JNTO.

Nonetheless the influx has raised concerns of “overtourism” at customer sizzling spots. On Monday, the mayor of Himeji in western Japan floated the foundation of charging foreigners three cases the customary 1,000 yen price to enter the metropolis’s well-liked samurai-era fortress, the Asahi newspaper reported.

In explaining modern path prices to curb overcrowding on Japan’s sacred Mt. Fuji, Yamanashi prefecture governor Kotaro Nagasaki advised journalists this week the nation must focal point on attracting “higher spending guests” over sheer plenty of oldsters.

Chinese language travellers, beforehand the excellent contingent of Eastern vacationers, are silent about 30 per cent lower than pre-pandemic stages. Nonetheless travellers from a quantity of markets are deciding on up the slack, such as Indian guests who reached a month-to-month file in May possibly presumably well maybe also, JNTO records showed.

Dalia Feldman, marketing and marketing director for Vacationer Japan, acknowledged her company has viewed an 11-fold amplify in inquiries from India in the previous one year, whereas these from the United Arab Emirates are up nearly eight fold.

“It looks to be it is miles the Eastern delicacies and natural sights that attract them essentially the most,” Feldman acknowledged. “Most of our Indian and UAE prospects will rely on to embody some extra food excursions of their itinerary as smartly as exterior trips to remote and scenic areas.”

($1 = 157.8200 yen)