Record 16 mil. people stayed at least one night in Kyoto last year

More than 16.3 million people stayed at least one night in Kyoto last year. It is the largest figure ever, and marks a year-on-year increase of 1.5 million visitors.

The Kyoto city government says that of this figure, the number of foreign tourists surpassed that of Japanese. More than 8.2 million foreign tourists stayed at least one night in Kyoto last year, while a little over 8 million Japanese travelers did so.

Kyoto City tourism promotion officials say that rising accommodation fees in the city may have prompted more Japanese tourists to make a day trip rather than stay overnight.

They also say the city aims to continue efforts to realize sustainable tourism in harmony with the lives of local residents.