Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) reported that the number of international visitors in Japan was up 20.9% year on year, reaching 2,477,500 in August 2017 (record-high for August: 2,049,000 in August 2016).
The total for the first eight months of 2017 is up 17.8% year on year: 18,916,200 i.e. 2.86 million more visitors than a year earlier.
The graph below shows the evolution of the number of international visitors in Japan for the past year:
The top market was China with 817,900 visitors (+21.1%), first country beyond 800,000 visitors in a month, followed by South Korea with 620,900 (+35.3%), Taiwan with 377,800 (+13.4%) and Hong Kong with 196,800 (+23.5%). The visitors from these four markets accounted for 81.3% of the total.
The high number of visitors was a record for August among the 20 markets considered, except Indonesia, Italy, Russia, and Spain. According to JNTO, the overall inbound travel market steadily grew although dull demand was found in some markets due to off-season periods, the rise of travel expenses and a lower availability of flight seats.
