The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has reported a record-breaking number of international visitors in October 2024, with 3,312,000 arrivals. This figure represents a 32.7% increase compared to the same month in 2019. Over the first ten months of 2024, Japan welcomed 30.2 million visitors, marking a 12.2% rise from the same period in 2019.
The JNTO anticipates that the total number of international visitors will surpass the previous annual record of 31.9 million, set in 2019, by the end of the year.
South Korea was the largest source market in October 2024, contributing 732,100 visitors, a significant 271.1% increase over 2019. Other major source markets included China with 582,800 visitors (down 20.2%), Taiwan with 478,900 visitors (up 15.8%), the United States with 278,500 visitors (up 81.6%), and Hong Kong with 198,800 visitors (up 10.1%). Notably, visitors from China showed a 127.3% increase compared to the previous year.
Six out of Japan’s 23 core source markets have already reached record-high annual visitor numbers.
According to OAG, international flights arriving at Japan’s six major airports (Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo) in October 2024 totalled 21,340, matching the number from October 2019. Available seats increased slightly by 0.1% to 4,991,379 compared to October 2019.
Haneda Airport saw a 33.0% increase in flights (4,806) and a 27.4% increase in available seats (1,191,064) compared to October 2019. Fukuoka Airport also experienced growth, with a 27.6% increase in flights (1,951) and a 33.5% increase in available seats (419,954). Kansai International Airport showed a recovery with a 3.8% decrease in flights and a 1.5% decrease in available seats.
AloJapan.com