The number of foreign visitors to Japan plunged to 2,900 in April, down 99.9% from a year earlier, largely due to travel restrictions amid the spread of the new coronavirus, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).
Given the situation, the Japanese tourism industry is increasingly shifting its business strategies to focus on short-distance domestic travelers.
This is the first time the number of foreign visitors to Japan has fallen below 10,000 in a single month since the government began compiling such statistics in 1964. The figure marked the seventh consecutive monthly decline. The percentage of the drop was also a new record, exceeding the 93% seen in March.
Since February, the government has increased the number of countries subject to its entry ban. As of April 2, visitors from 26 countries were subject to the ban, but the figure had more than tripled to 87 countries and regions as of April 29.
According to the JNTO, most of the recent visitors to Japan have Japanese spouses or children and reentered the country with special permission. By country or region, visitors from South Korea, Taiwan and the United States had the highest numbers at about 300 each.
The number of visitors from China and Vietnam was about 200 each, while about 100 people came from Indonesia. The percentage of decrease was close to 100% for almost all countries and regions.
The government had set a target of 40 million visitors to Japan this year, but the combined number from January to April stood at only 3.94 million.
To support the tourism industry, the government has set aside funding of about 1.7 trillion yen for campaigns, including subsidizing domestic travel costs, as measures to stimulate demand after the pandemic is brought under control.
Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Hiroshi Tabata said at a press conference on Wednesday, "It will take at least two months from now" to prepare for implementing the budget. Tabata expressed his intention to make the necessary preparations for the tourist season this summer, depending on the situation involving infections.
--Hopes pinned on domestic demand
Arrivals of foreign travelers almost completely stopped in April. As entry restrictions on visitors to Japan from other countries have continued, a recovery in foreign visitors is unlikely for the time being. That has prompted the Japanese tourism industry to change tack.
The sharp drop in visitors has been felt in the tourism industry since February. According to Teikoku Databank, Ltd., 170 companies had gone bankrupt as of Wednesday. Among them, the tourism industry had the largest number with 35 hotels and Japanese-style inns going under.
A series of bankruptcies has also occurred among nationwide hotel chain operators.
The number of visitors to Japan marked an all-time high of 31.88 million in 2019. However, according to Koya Miyamae, a senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., "the possibility is growing that the number of visitors to Japan this year is likely to fall below 10 million for the first time since 2012."
Although visitors to Japan have soared in recent years, domestic tourists account for more than 80% of travel spending among all travelers in Japan. Hoshino Resorts Inc. CEO Yoshiharu Hoshino has proposed "microtourism" in which people make small trips to visit their neighboring areas.
The city government of Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, will start providing local residents in June with financial aid by paying half their accommodation expenses. Kounso, a Japanese-style inn in the Shiobara hot spring area, has prepared disinfectant and plastic sheets to prevent droplet infections at the reception desk.
"We want local residents to rediscover the attractions of their hometown," Kounso President Masayuki Kimishima said.
Yamashiroya, a hot-spring inn in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, in which foreign visitors accounted for about 80% of its guests, aims to attract tourists from the prefecture by offering a day-trip plan for hot springs as well as a package featuring local dishes. The Yamagata prefectural government plans to issue discount coupons for accommodation to residents of the prefecture.
"It is important [for Japan] to understand its regional areas and make them known widely in order to aim higher as a tourism-oriented country," Hoshino said.
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