Economy

Japan to Target 200,000 Yen in Spending Per Foreign Visitor

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Visitors are seen at the entrance of Sensoji temple’s main hall in Taito Ward, Tokyo, on Monday.

Jiji Press

11:49 JST, February 10, 2023

Tokyo —The Japan Tourism Agency plans to set a target of achieving ¥200,000 in per-person spending by foreign visitors by 2025, up from ¥159,000 in 2019, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was learned Thursday.

The target was included in a draft of a new basic plan for tourism presented by the agency at a meeting of a subcommittee of the Council for Transport Policy.

The agency hopes that higher spending by foreign visitors would help regional economies recover after being hit by the pandemic.

It aims to achieve the target through efforts such as attracting wealthy tourists from overseas to sightseeing spots outside major cities.

The new basic plan will cover the period from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2025, when the World Expo will be held in the western city of Osaka.

For the annual number of foreign visitors, meanwhile, the agency plans to set a goal of exceeding the record high of 31.88 million, set in 2019, as uncertainties remain over the pandemic.

The agency aims to adopt the goals at a cabinet meeting by the end of March.