Japan sees 1.9 million visitors in May, down from cherry blossom rush (updated)
21/06/2023 08:42
(Adds details in paragraphs 4-10)
TOKYO, June 21 (Reuters) - Japan saw a slight decline in
visitors in May from the previous month, when a rush of tourists
came to see the nation's famous cherry blossoms without COVID-19
restrictions, official data showed on Wednesday.
The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure came
in just below 1.9 million last month from a post-pandemic high
of 1.95 million in April, the Japan National Tourism
Organisation (JNTO) said.
Arrivals were down 31.5% from the level in May 2019, before
the coronavirus outbreak.
Travellers from China, previously Japan's biggest
tourist segment and the lifeblood of many retailers, grew 24% to
134,400 in June, though still far below 2019 levels.
Tourism to Japan all but halted for more than two years
during the pandemic, but the numbers have
risen steadily
since the government resumed visa-free travel for many
countries in October. It scrapped remaining infection controls
on May 8.
Meanwhile, the yen has weakened sharply against other
major currencies, making trips to Japan the cheapest in many
years. Consumer-focused businesses are starting to feel the
benefits.
Mid-June sales figures at major department stores
indicated strong demand from Chinese visitors, particularly in
the western tourist destinations of Osaka and Kyoto, according
to Jefferies analyst Mitsuko Miyasako.
Cosmetics sales at Takashimaya 8233.T and J.Front
Retailing 3086.T rebounded to just under 70% of 2019 levels,
she wrote in a report.
Occupancy for Air Canada's flights to Japan was 95% in
May, even higher than in pre-COVID times, said Kiyo Weiss,
senior director of sales for the Asia-Pacific region.
"Japan has been viewed for a long time as a bucket list
country by North American leisure travellers," she said. "Now
that Japan has reopened to tourists and the current exchange
rate makes leisure trips less expensive, we think this trend
will continue to grow."
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Varun H K and Gerry
Doyle)
((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))