Record Number of Overseas Visitors to Japan 2024
In 2024, a record 36.9 million international visitors came to Japan, up 47.1% from the year before. The Japan National Tourism Organization reports this is 5 million more than previous record of 31.9 million set in 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic.
A major reason for many tourists coming to Japan is the weak yen. In 2019, the exchange rate was about 110 yen to the US dollar. The yen has continued to weaken going from 140 yen to 160 yen to the US dollar, making Japan seem like a bargain. The largest number of international travelers came from South Korea, at 8.8 million. This is followed by China at 7.0 million, Taiwan at 6.0 million, and the United States at 2.7 million.
I totally understand why travelers want to come to Japan! The culture, the beautiful places, the friendly people, the delicious food, I could go on and on. Stay tuned, and I will have posts in the days ahead about a fantastic three day trip I took in my own prefecture!
3 comments:
Well done, Japan. If it didn't cost so much for us to get there, I suspect we'd go again!
I also totally understand why visitors want to come to Japan, and return! It IS a wonderful country.
Personally, though, I preferred Japan as it was in the 1980s, less crowded with foreigners in places like Kyoto and Takayama, and more uniquely Japanese (squat toilets, sleeping on the floor, having to guess the meaning of text as there was very little information in English, endless cups of green tea wherever you went...)
This is an interesting post.
Is it good for the locals if the yen keeps dropping? I hope not. A weak Yen can possibly cause inflation.
Catherine❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
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