Number of foreign tourists to Japan reaches 2.44 million in November, following an upward trend due to recovery in air services

Japan recorded 2.44 million foreign visitors in November, continuing to surpass the two million mark for the sixth consecutive month, according to official data released by the Tokyo government on Wednesday. The steady growth is being fuelled by a recovery in air services and the depreciation of the yen.

In the first 11 months of the year, the total number of foreign tourists to Japan reached 22.33 million, surpassing the 20 million mark for the first time in a calendar year since 2019. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) released the data, noting that Japanese authorities expect 25 million foreign visitors by the end of this year, and to surpass 2019's record level of 31.88 million by 2025, profit.ro reports.

In November, the most tourists came from South Korea, with 649,900 visitors, more than triple the same period in 2019. Taiwan maintained its 2.9% advance, while China saw a 65.6% decline. Visitor numbers from the US, Mexico and Canada saw significant increases of 24%, 52.4% and 17.1% respectively.

However, 1.03 million Japanese tourists traveled abroad in November, down 37.5% compared to the same period in 2019.