Japan notched a new record high for inbound tourism in 2024.
It welcomed 36.87 million tourists, up by more than 15% on the 2019’s previous best of 31.88 million, according to Japan National Tourism Organization data.
Major growth markets were South Korea and the US, both up nearly 60%.
However, the number of visitors from mainland China was down 27%.
Major Japanese travel agency group JTB expects inbound Japan tourism to surpass 40 million for the first time in 2025.
Japan Tourism Agency says total tourism related spending by foreign visitors reached a record 8.14 trillion yen ($52 billion) in 2024.
This is a big 69% increase on pre-pandemic 2019.
