TOKYO – The Japan Tourism Agency plans to increase the number of regions taking steps to address overtourism from the current 47 to 100 as a new effort to strengthen measures against overtourism.
The numerical target will be included in the agency’s basic tourism promotion plan, whose draft was presented to a panel of experts on Jan 30. The plan discusses the direction the country’s tourism policy will take through 2030.
However, it maintains its existing target to increase the number of inbound visitors to 60 million and their annual spending to 15 trillion yen (S$123 billion) by 2030.
The new plan will cover five years from 2026 to 2030. The agency aims to compile a final draft in March for Cabinet approval.
While the agency kept the target number of inbound visitors the same, it raised the target figure of repeat visitors from 36 million to 40 million.
In 2025, inbound tourist spending reached a record 9.5 trillion yen, ranking as Japan’s second largest export following automobiles at 17 trillion yen.
In response, the agency decided to position inbound tourism as a strategic industry that will lead the development of regional economies and the national economy.
Meanwhile, the draft also maintains it will be necessary to take measures to boost the tourism industry’s sustainability by ensuring resilience against a variety of risks, such as changes in the international situation.
The number of visitors from China, which accounts for the largest group of inbound tourism, has drastically declined since November 2025 amid worsening Japan-China relations following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark in a Diet session over a possible Taiwan contingency.
Given this situation, the draft points out the necessity of a tourism promotion strategy that does not depend too heavily on certain countries or regions. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
AloJapan.com