Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) announced that the number of Japanese overseas travelers was up 5.9% year on year to record-high 20,080,600 in 2019, exceeding 20 million for the first time. The long-standing goal of 20 million was finally accomplished in the past 13 years since it was defined under the government’s Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan in 2007.
Japanese overseas travelers in December 2019 were up 5.1% to 1,712,300, rebounding from the first monthly reduction in November 2019 in the past one year and nine months.
The graph below illustrates monthly changes of Japanese overseas travelers in 2019.
The graph below illustrates yearly changes of Japanese overseas travelers in the last decade.
Japanese overseas travelers were just 130,000 in 1964, when overseas travel was liberalized. Since then, the mass-air travel by Boeing 747, the strong yen trend, the bubble economy and other outer factors had boosted the overseas travel market with 17.82 million overseas travelers in 2000. After the time, however, the market saw up-and-down trends, depending on economic conditions or international political situations.
In 2015, inbound travelers to Japan outnumbered Japanese outbound travelers. The recent extension of LCC network has been activating not only the inbound travel market but also the outbound travel market. The graph below illustrates the Japanese outbound travel history since 1964.
