Visitors to Japan last month rose to a post-COVID-19 high of almost 2 million, official data showed yesterday, benefiting from a relaxation of travel restrictions in China.
The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure climbed to 1.95 million last month from 1.82 million in March, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said.
Arrivals were still down 33 percent from April 2019, before COVID-19 travel curbs were adopted the next year.
Photo: AP
China last month eased outbound travel restrictions that had cut off a lucrative flow of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A record 9.5 million Chinese visitors landed in Japan in 2019, one-third of all visitors.
However, a full recovery is likely to take time because of a lingering shortage of flights.
“We foresee a continuous increase in the number of international flights from China, as there has been an 11 percent capacity increase between March 2023 and April 2023,” said Asami Chung (鄭麻美), general manager of travel management company FCM Japan.
There were 108,300 Chinese arrivals last month, a 43 percent jump from March, but still well off of 2019 levels, JNTO data showed.
Traveler numbers have risen steadily since Japan resumed visa-free travel for many countries in October last year.
It stopped pre-arrival COVID-19 tests for travelers from China on April 5 and scrapped remaining infection controls on May 8.
Meanwhile, the yen has weakened precipitously against the euro and US dollar, making trips to Japan the cheapest they have been in many years.
“The weak yen is positively influencing travel to Japan despite the high cost,” said Chung, adding that Tokyo still has the most expensive hotel rates in Asia.
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