In May, the number of foreign tourists in Japan reached 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but some areas of the nation are still not feeling the benefits of the tourism recovery.
On June 21 the Japan National Tourism Organization said that 1,898, 900 tourists from abroad landed in Japan in May, 68.5 percent, of the figure for May 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
The number of tourists from such countries as Canada, the United States and Singapore exceeded the levels before the pandemic, thanks to the lifting of COVID-19 border controls in late April.
The overall number of foreign visitors in May was less than in April, which saw 1,949, 100 inbound tourists. But this is the usual trend, he said.
In May, South Koreans accounted for the majority of the most foreign tourists in Japan, with 300,000 from Taiwan and 180,000 from the United States.
In May, only 130,000 people came from mainland China due to Beijing banning sales of group tour packages to Japan.
Before Japan's pandemic, Chinese travelers accounted for 30 percent of foreign tourists.
In March, the number of overnight stays in Japan by foreign visitors was 7.55 million in April, around 80 percent of the figure for the same month in 2019.
The number of foreign overnight visitors in Kyoto and Ishikawa prefectures, which are popular tourist destinations, has recovered to around 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
The biggest surge in international overnight visitors in March happened in Tochigi Prefecture, where the number increased by 70 percent. A Tochigi prefectural government official cited the ease of traveling from Tokyo to the prefecture as a reason for the rise.
We have seen tourists from the Middle East and South America, whom we didn't see before the pandemic, he said.
The number of foreign overnight visitors in the Tokushima Prefecture increased significantly, probably because of the possibility of chartered flights between the prefecture and Taiwan in March and April.
In other regions, the recovery in foreign tourists has been slow.
In Niigata Prefecture, the number of foreign overnight visitors in March was 70 percent of the figure seen in March 2019.
In May, the Prefectural Government launched a campaign to offer grants of up to 5,000 yen to international tourists and hotel operators.
But not just in winter, when many foreign visitors come to ski, but we would also like to attract more visitors in summer to places like Sado Island and bring the number of foreign tourists to the pre-COVID level, a prefectural government official said.
To attract foreigners, the easiest way is to access the goods and services offered, which appears to be the main factor.
According to the transportation ministry, 3,159 regular passenger flights were taking place from March 26 to April 1, the first week of the summer flight schedule in 2023. For the same week in 2019, the number is 57.3 percent.
International flights to urban airports, however, brought more foreign visitors to Japan.
The total number of flights at Haneda Airport in Tokyo from March 26 to April 1 was 98.1 percent, the highest in the same period in 2019.
The recovery rates at Fukuoka Airport were 73.7 percent at Fukuoka Airport and 61.4 percent at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.
With these three airports as well as Naha Airport, Chubu Airport, Shin-Chitose Airport and Kansai Airport, the overall percentage at all other airports was just 15.7 percent.
The sluggish recovery is a result of personnel shortages that have led to the sluggish recovery of airports.