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By Rocky Swift
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan welcomed a record number of cases in December, official data showed on Wednesday, capping a year of immediate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of foreign business and leisure travelers rose to 2. 73 million last month from 2. 44 million in November, according to information from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).
This is the number of tourists ever recorded during the month of December and approximately 8% more than the pre-pandemic point observed in 2019.
For all of 2023, just over 25 million arrived in Japan, the firm said.
Tourism in Japan has still been paralyzed during more than two years of the pandemic, and the country implemented some of the strictest border controls in the world. But arrivals temporarily picked up after the government resumed visa-free travel for many countries in October 2022. .
Arrivals have topped 2 million each month since June last year, driven by a weakening yen that makes Japan less expensive than other destinations.
This year, visitors are likely to surpass 2019’s record of 31. 9 million, but last year’s tourism spending may have already reached the government’s target of 5 trillion yen ($33. 81 billion), said Teppei Kawanishi, managing director of industry consultancy Honichi Lab.
Average spending per guest is about 30% higher than before the pandemic, driven in part by regular travelers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, Kawanishi said.
“Spending on degrees is very high today,” he added.
December saw record arrivals for a single month of people from Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, JNTO said.
This is helping to offset the slow recovery in the number of visitors from mainland China, which accounted for about a third of all visitors and 40% of all tourism spending in Japan in 2019. The number of Chinese travelers in December is still 56% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Inbound tourism has a key component of Japan’s economic recovery, but severe staff shortages are hampering the sector’s ability to meet demand.
“The industry can’t keep up,” said Wanping Aw, managing director of TokudAw, which specializes in personal cars in Japan. “Experienced staff are exhausted and overworked and don’t have time to exercise staff. “
($1 = 147. 8700 yen)
(Reporting via Rocky Swift; editing by Rashmi Aich and Tomasz Janowski)
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