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The number of foreign visitors to Japan rose to nearly 500,000 in October, the first month it fully reopened to overseas visitors after more than two years of COVID restrictions, more than doubling the volume from September.
Japan on Oct. 11 ended some of the world’s strictest border controls, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on tourism to recharge the economy – especially with the yen hovering near a 32-year low against the dollar.
The number of foreign visitors, for both tourism and business, rose to 498,600 in October, more than double September’s 206,500 and surging a massive 2,155 percent from the year before, the Japan National Tourism Organization said, though it was still down 80% on 2019.
This year, 1.52 million foreign visitors have arrived, a far cry from the record 31.8 million in 2019 and the government’s 2020 goal – pegged to the Summer Olympics, that were ultimately postponed – of 40 million.
