Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Business

Japan's March visitors at post-COVID high, lured by cherry blossoms

FILE PHOTO: Tourists prepare to take a picture under illuminated blooming cherry blossoms at Gion district in Kyoto, western Japan March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Visitors to Japan surged in March to their highest after the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Wednesday, with overseas tourists flocking to see the nation's famous cherry blossoms for the first time in four years as travel curbs eased.

The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure stood at 1.82 million in March, up from 1.48 million in February, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said.

However, arrivals were still down 34% from March 2019, before pandemic travel curbs adopted from the following year.

FILE PHOTO: Girls feed sparrows and take photos in front of cherry blossom trees at Ueno park, in Tokyo, Japan, March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou

Visitor numbers have risen steadily since Japan resumed visa-free travel for many countries in October. It halted pre-arrival COVID tests for travellers from China on April 5 and is set to scrap all remaining infection controls from May 8.

In March 2020, as the pandemic started to widen, Japan placed travel curbs on visitors from China and South Korea, its two largest inbound markets.

Tourism to Japan all but halted for more than two years until a gradual reopening starting in June 2022.

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy cherry blossoms in Tokyo, Japan, March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou

Chinese visitors last month more than doubled to 75,700 from February, the tourism data showed. But that is still a trickle compared to the record 2019 figure of 9.5 million that accounted for a third of all visitors.

A full recovery in Chinese tourist numbers is likely to take time because of a shortage of flights and Beijing's remaining curbs on the destinations of group tours by citizens.

FILE PHOTO: Visitors ride boats next to blooming cherry blossoms at Chidorigafuchi Park in Tokyo, Japan, March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Kim Coghill and Clarence Fernandez)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.