Photo/Illutration Nikko Toshogu shrine in Tochigi Prefecture, a popular destination among foreign tourists (Go Takahashi)

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in May neared 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but some regions of the country are still not feeling the benefits of the tourism recovery.

The Japan National Tourism Organization said on June 21 that 1,898,900 tourists from abroad landed in Japan in May, 68.5 percent of the figure for May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The number of tourists from such countries as Singapore, the United States and Canada exceeded the level before the pandemic, thanks to the lifting of COVID-19 border controls in late April, according to JNTO figures.

The overall number of foreign visitors in May was fewer than in April, which saw 1,949,100 inbound tourists. But this is the usual trend.

South Koreans accounted for the most foreign tourists in Japan in May, totaling 520,000, followed by 300,000 from Taiwan and 180,000 from the United States.

Only 130,000 travelers arrived from mainland China in May because Beijing has banned sales of group tour packages to Japan.

Chinese travelers accounted for 30 percent of foreign tourists to Japan before the pandemic.

The number of overnight stays in Japan by foreign visitors was 7.55 million in March, around 80 percent of the figure for the same month in 2019.

Tokyo hosted 3.03 million foreign overnight visitors in March, a 20-percent increase from pre-COVID-19 levels.

In Kyoto and Ishikawa prefectures, also popular tourist destinations, the number of foreign overnight visitors has recovered to around 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

The biggest surge in foreign overnight visitors in March occurred in Tochigi Prefecture, where the number increased by 70 percent. A Tochigi prefectural government official cited the ease in traveling from Tokyo to the prefecture as a reason for the rise.

“We’ve seen tourists from the Middle East and South America, whom we didn’t see before the pandemic,” the official said.

Tokushima Prefecture also saw a significant increase in foreign overnight visitors, likely because of the availability of chartered flights between the prefecture and Taiwan in March and April.

However, the recovery in foreign tourists has been slow in other regions.

For example, in Niigata Prefecture, the number of foreign overnight visitors in March was 70 percent of the figure seen in March 2019.

The prefectural government in May started a campaign to give grants of up to 5,000 yen ($35) to foreign tourists and hotel operators.

“Not just in winter, when many foreign visitors come to ski, but we would also like to attract more visitors in summer to places like Sado Island and bring the number of foreign tourists to the pre-COVID level,” a prefectural government official said.

Easy accessibility appears to be the main key to attracting foreign tourists.

According to the transport ministry, 3,159 regular passenger flights were operating from March 26 to April 1, the first week of the 2023 summer flight schedule. The number is 57.3 percent of the total for the same week in 2019.

However, international flights to airports in urban areas brought more foreign tourists to Japan.

The number of flights at Haneda Airport in Tokyo from March 26 to April 1 recovered to 98.1 percent of the figure seen over same period in 2019.

The recovery rates were 73.7 percent at Fukuoka Airport and 61.4 percent at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.

Excluding these three airports as well as Kansai Airport, Chubu Airport, Shin-Chitose Airport and Naha Airport, the overall percentage at all other airports was just 15.7 percent.

One major reason for the sluggish recovery is that these airports cannot make adequate arrangements to receive foreign tourists because of personnel shortages.

(This article was written by Akifumi Nagahashi and Go Takahashi.)

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