Japan Bound
Japan Tourism Agency estimates an economic impact boosted by international skiers and snowboarders reaches about 64 billion yen
Japan Tourism Agency has estimated that an economic impact boosted by international skiers and snowboarders was about 64.3 billion yen in 2023, recognizing that ski and snowboard are key tourism activities to increase local spending and extend stay days in local areas.
International visitors to Japan reached record-high 3.13 million in June 2024, exceeding 3 million for four consecutive months
The number of international visitors to Japan in June 2024 reached record-high 3,135,600 on a single month basis, increasing by 8.9% compared to the same month of 2019. The total for the first half of 2024 was up 6.9% to record-high 17,777,200.
The Japanese government prioritizes to send inbound tourists to local destinations and to avoid over-tourism, expecting record-high inbound visitors in 2024
The Japanese government focuses on sending inbound tourists to local areas and avoiding over-tourism, forecasting record-high 35 million international visitors and also record-high travel spending of 8 trillion yen in 2024.
Japan Brand Survey 2024 shows that Japan is the top by far as a revisiting country, boosted by cheap yen
Japan Brand Survey 2024 by Dentsu finds that Japan is the top revisiting destination by far, about 20 higher points than Singapore as the 2nd and U.S. as the 3rd. The most-expected experience in Japan is ‘a variety of foods’
Haneda Airport launches a duty-free online booking service for Chinese travelers on a WeChat mini program
Haneda Airport has launched ‘Haneda Airport Duty-free Booking Station,’ which is a new service for Chinese travelers to book duty-free items on a WeChat mini program.
DMO Kyoto encourages inbound travelers to use a designated interpretation app as one of the over-tourism countermeasures
Kyoto City encourages inbound travelers visiting Kyoto City to use ‘Oyraa,’ an interpretation app, to avoid troubles in traveling in advance and as one of the over-tourism countermeasures.
The MICHELIN Guide selects the first 108 MICHELIN Key hotels and ryokans in Japan, including the highest 6 Three Keys
The MICHELIN Guide announced the first 108 MICHELIN Key hotels and ryokan, six Three Key hotels and ryokans, 17 Two Key and 85 One Key, out of 243 MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selections (as of July 1 2024).
NAVITIME JAPAN data show that inbound travelers’ visits in Minami Ashigara, Kanagawa skyrocketed by 32 times in the spring 2024 due to early bloomer cherry
NAVITIME JAPAN, a Japanese navigation app provider, announced regions with more inbound travelers’ visits in the spring 2024, based on data from ‘Japan Travel by NAVITIME.’ The largest growth was seen in Minami Ashigara City.
E-ticket booking platform Linktivity of Japan bridges digital railway tickets in Kansai and Kanto with more than 400 OTAs worldwide
E-ticket booking platform Linktivity has begun selling QR code-based digital tickets of private railways in Kansai and Kanto areas through partnerships with more than 400 OTAs worldwide.
The climbing regulations to Mt. Fuji will start on July 1 2024 as a solution to avoid ‘over-tourism’
Yamanashi Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, the gateway of Mt.Fuji, will launch management systems to control climbers on July 1 2024, expecting the regulations will be a model case to solve over-tourism.
International visitors to Japan exceeded 3 million in May 2024 for three consecutive months, with record-high in 19 source markets
The number of international visitors to Japan in May 2024 was up 9.6% to record-high 3,040,100 for May compared to the same month of 2019. The largest source market was South Korea with 738,800 visitors.
Tourism EXPO Japan will go to Aichi in 2025 for the first time, appealing tourism in Hokuriku after the devastated earthquake
‘Tourism EXPO Japan 2025’ will be held in Aichi Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture for the first time, appealing Chubu and Hokuriku areas. Tourism EXPO Japan 2024 will open in Tokyo Big Sight on September 26 2024.
Most prefectures in Japan target Taiwan first to attract tourists, followed by Australia and U.S., and China is 8th
78% of all DMOs or prefectures in Japan target Taiwan as a source market, followed by Australia (51.4%) and U.S. (49.7%), ‘because tourism resources and contents are compatible with the target markets (64.4%).'
Foreigners’ guest nights in Japan were up 17% in April 2024 compared to pre-pandemic
The total number of guest nights in April 2024 (provisionally) was up 11.9% year on year to 50.9 million, which were also up 0.5% compared to the same month of 2019, and guest nights of foreigner travelers were up 16.5% to 13.2 million.
NTT, a Japanese communication solution provider, visualizes inbound travelers’ movements with free Wi-Fi data
NTT Broadband Platform (NTTBP) has begun providing ‘Japan Wi-Fi Funalytics,’ a new service to visualize and analyze inbound travelers’ movements with data from free Wi-Fi access app.
Tokyo Shibuya and Honolulu sign a sister city agreement to promote tourism exchanges
Tokyo Shibuya Ward and Honolulu of Hawaii signed a sister city agreement to work together for sharing knowledge and experiences in tourism, eduction, sports and environment.
Hyatt-affiliated Japanese style ryokan will open in Yufu, Yakushima and Hakone in 2026, offering 30 to 50 luxury rooms
Kiraku, a Japanese accommodation developer, revealed that a joint venture with Hyatt Hotels Corporation will open luxury ryokan ‘ATONA’ in 2026.
Japan, China and South Korea agree to boost cultural exchanges with a goal to increase trilateral travelers to 40 million in total by 2030
Leaders of Japan, China and South Korea agreed to increase exchange of people among the tree nations to 40 million by 2030, designating ‘Culture Exchange Years’ for the next two years.
Visitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong to Japan are more interested in what Japanese people eat at home, paying attention to local supermarkets
More than 90% of visitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong want to buy foods as dinner in department stores or supermarkets in traveling in Japan.
A pre-booking program for Mt. Fuji will be launched in July 2024, giving climbers wristbands for qualification
Yamanashi Prefecture will introduce a pre-booking program to collect admission fees from climbers to Mt.Fuji on July 1 2024. The prefecture placed a gate in the Mt. Fuji fifth entrance station to collect admission fees this year.