Year-on-year transactions by Japanese travel agencies fall by 93%

The approach to Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto, which is usually crowded every year, is sparsely populated on April 15. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

The Japan Tourism Agency announced Friday that 48 major travel agencies processed 28.8 billion yen in transactions in June, down 92.9% from the same month of the previous year.

This is the ninth consecutive month of decline compared to last year.

The rate of decline was smaller than the 97.6% decrease recorded in May. The move is believed to have been prompted by a relaxation of self-restraint regarding traveling across prefectures after June 19.

The employees of a travel agency for inbound Chinese to Japan are busy working on holidays due to a series of cancellations, in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on January 26. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Of the total amount processed in June, the sum for traveling overseas decreased by 98.8% to 1.9 billion yen compared with the previous year, and the sum for inbound tourists decreased by 99.0% to 200 million yen.

However, since the amount for domestic travel decreased by 87.9% to 26.7 billion yen, the agency said, "There seems to be a certain recovery trend in domestic travel."

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