Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) reported that international visitors to Japan were up 9.8% year on year to 2,206,000 in March 2017. Despite the single-digit growth following February, the result was record-high for March and the third most on a single month basis.
JNTO analyzed that the single-digit growth was affected by shift of the Easter break from late March last year to April this year. The market, however, was still boosted by an increase in cruise ships, extension of air network and successive promotional campaigns, according to JNTO.
The table below shows change of international visitors to Japan for the past year
The top market was China with 509,000 visitors (+2.2%), followed by Korea with 488,400 visitors (+30.6%). Visitors from U.S.A. reached record-high 130,900 (+12.6%) on a single months basis. Out of 20 major markets, visitors from 15 markets except Philippine, Australia, U.K. and Spain were record-high for March.
JNTO said that cherry blossom and the Easter break will especially be chances to boost the inbound travel market in April 2017.
