Japan: Number of foreign hotel guests tops 10 million for first time in three years
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The number of foreign nationals who stayed at hotels and other accommodation facilities in Japan topped 10 million in April for the first time since January 2020, government data showed Wednesday, buoyed by a weaker yen and an increase in the number of international flights.
The figure rose more than nineteenfold from a year before to 10.38 million, equivalent to 92% of the total in April 2019 before the coronavirus outbreak, according to the preliminary data released by the Japan Tourism Agency.
Even in 2019, when a record-high number of foreigners visited the country, the monthly total of foreign hotel guests eclipsed the 10 million mark only three times.
As for Japanese guests, the April figure climbed to 37.24 million, up 12.5% from a year earlier but down 5.6% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the data showed.
The combined total of foreign and Japanese guests at hotels and inns in April stood at 47.63 million, up 41.6% from a year earlier but down 6.1% from April 2019.
The tourism industry is regaining ground since the country lifted its pandemic-prompted ban on individual trips that are not prearranged last October.
The figure is likely to increase more in the coming months as Japan lifted its COVID-19 border controls for all arrivals on April 29, meaning entrants are no longer required to present certification of at least three coronavirus vaccinations or a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours prior to departure.
The number of foreign entries in April was more than 1.9 million, up nearly fourteenfold from a year before, marking the highest number of foreign visitors since February 2020, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Besides a weaker yen, the organization said that Japan’s cherry blossom season, an increase and resumption of flights in East Asia and the start of the holiday season in various parts of the world bolstered the number of visitors to the country that month.
source: Japan Times
