Australian visitors to Japan hit 1M as travel habits evolve

Australian visitors to Japan have surpassed one million per year for the first time amid growing popularity of the country for vacations.

The milestone was reached during Australia’s most recent fiscal year (July 2024 to June 2025), when Japan overtook the US to become Australian travellers’ third-most popular overseas destination.

More Australians are exploring Japan year-round, staying longer and spending more across the country

Visitors over the period were up 28 per cent year-on-year, and demand shows no sign of slowing down, with Expedia and Booking.com both reporting Tokyo as the most searched outbound destination for Australians on their platforms.

Although a small source market, accounting for only 4.2 per cent of the 8.1 trillion yen (US$53.2 billion) of foreign tourist spending, Australia is among Japan’s priority targets for inbound tourism.

In 2024, Australian visitors spent an average of 382,000 yen per capita, making the country the second-highest spenders, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. Furthermore, Australians’ average stay was 11 days, compared to 2.8 days for all inbound travellers,

These longer trips are “indicative of changing travel habits among Australians visiting Japan, who are taking more time to see more of the country and its lesser-known destinations”, said Naoki Kitazawa, executive director at the Sydney office of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

Another change is the transition from a concentration of visits in December and January for snow sports and in April for cherry blossoms, to a consistent rise in arrivals across all months.

JNTO data also shows diversification of activities since 2015. In 2024, 84 per cent of travellers enjoyed scenery/sightseeing (up from 71 per cent), 63 per cent visited galleries/museums (up from 40 per cent), while 66 per cent experienced Japanese history/culture (up from 53 per cent).

Family travel, too, is on the rise. Mimaru, an apartment hotel chain with 27 properties across Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto is welcoming “more Australian families than ever before”, noted Mao Mochizuki of Mimaru’s operator Cosmos Hotel Management.