Japan Sees Record Number of Foreign Visitors in August; Hotel Companies Actively Opening New Properties

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, September 20, 2024

International visitors continued to flock to Japan in August, with an estimated 2.93 million people coming in from overseas that month, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

This represents a 16.4% increase from the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Foreign visitors usually decline in August, and it was the first time in six months that the monthly number had dropped below 3 million. However, this year’s August figure was a record high for the month, JNTO said. It also represented the seventh consecutive record high for a monthly figure in 2024.

By country or region, the most visitors in August came from China with 745,800, down 25.5% from August 2019. This was followed by South Korea with 612,100, up 98.3%.

Italy accounted for 34,700 visitors and Spain for 25,900. Both were the highest ever monthly totals for those nations.

More than 24 million foreign visitors came to Japan from January to August.

International visitors to Japan tend to decrease in August and September, which is partly attributed to the fact that more flights are canceled due to typhoons. Also, many foreign nationals are said to spend time with their families at home during the second half of their long holidays.

However, the momentum has not slowed down this year. Compared to 2019, the growth rate in August was the highest so far this year.

“I think [this trend] will continue if some problem doesn’t occur,” Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Naoya Haraikawa said at a press conference Wednesday.

Expecting more visitors, hotel and airline operators are expanding their businesses. Foreign-affiliated hotels with members all over the world are actively investing in Japan.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), a British company, plans to open hotels in the low and medium price range in Kochi; Chiryu, Aichi Prefecture; and Hamamatsu in 2026. Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s managing director for Japan operations, said Japan is one of the world’s top three hotel markets, and the company plans to double the number of hotels it operates in this nation to around 100 over the next few years.

The Marriott International, Inc. of the United States also announced a plan in April to open hotels in Kyoto and six other locations in Japan in and after autumn 2025.

Visitors from India increased by 28% and from the Middle East by 68.1% from January to August compared to the same period in 2019.

In the past, most visitors to Japan have come from China, South Korea or Southeast Asian countries. But in recent years, tourists from European and North American nations have been increasing.

In addition, expectations are growing for visitors from India and the Middle East as the next growth markets.

At the end of March, Japan Airlines Co. began nonstop service between Tokyo and Doha, becoming the first Japanese airline to offer direct flights between Japan and the Middle East. JAL is also scheduled to begin a code-sharing service with a major Indian airline on the India route in autumn.

All Nippon Airways Co. intends to launch a new route linking Haneda and Istanbul in 2025.