Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) announced that international visitors to Japan in May 2016 increased by 15.3% year on year to 1,894,000, which were record-high for May. However, visitors from Korea resulted in year-on-year reduction for the first time since June 2014, affected by the Kumamoto Earthquake that happened in April 2016.
The table below shows international visitor results by month:
The biggest international market was still China with 507,200 visitors (+30%), followed by Taiwan with 375,500 (+10.5%) and Korea with 302,100 (-4.2%). Visitors from India were record-high on a single month basis, and visitors from all of major 17 markets except Russia and Korea were record-high for May.
For the first five months of 2016, Japan received 2,494,200 from China (+45.3%), 2,035,600 from Korea (+29.8%) and 1,758,000 from Taiwan (+21.5%).
The table below shows visitor results by market:
For June 2016, JNTO has forecasted that a shoulder season before a summer vacation period and part of negative influences from the Kumamoto Earthquake may cast a shadow on the inbound travel market. Meanwhile, the 99th Lions Clubs International Annual Convention in Fukuoka will welcome more than 10,000 participants from the world.
In Japanese