Spending by international visitors in Japan, named the world’s most favorite travel destination by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, surged 53% last year to a record high of 8.14 trillion yen (US$52 billion).
Mainland Chinese tourists were the top spenders with 1.7 trillion yen, accounting for 21.3% of the total, followed by visitors from Taiwan and South Korea, Nippon reported.
By category, the largest portion of spending went toward lodging, followed by shopping and food and beverages.
Japan welcomed over 36.8 million tourist arrivals in 2024, surpassing the previous record of nearly 32 million in 2019, according to estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
This marks a revival of the tourism boom that began over a decade ago but was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with visitor numbers now more than four times higher than in 2012.
A weak yen and intensified tourism campaigns have contributed to the surge in visitors to Japan.
Japan was named the world’s most favorite travel destination by readers of Condé Nast Traveler in the 2024 edition of the American magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards.