Photo/Illutration Teenagers enjoy their summer vacation at Naminoue beach in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, where the rainy season has been officially declared over. (Tetsuro Takehana)

Crowds are back in full force as domestic tourism this summer is finally returning to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, with an estimated 72.5 million people traveling within Japan, according to JTB Corp.

The figure marks a 16.9 percent increase from the previous year, according to a national survey released on July 6 by the major travel agency.

JTB made the estimate for trips that involve accommodations planned between July 15 and Aug. 31.

According to the estimate, the average domestic travel budget per person rose by 8.1 percent to 40,000 yen ($277), the highest since the survey began in 1996.

This is due to higher accommodation costs and more people planning longer trips to more distant destinations, said the company, which also found people in their 60s or older particularly eager to travel.

By July 5, JTB’s vacation package sales increased by 20 percent from the previous year, with Okinawa Prefecture, the Kansai region and Hokkaido being popular destinations.

Tokyo Disney Resort, which is marking its 40th anniversary this year, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and other theme parks are also popular draws among tourists.

On the other hand, overseas tourism is recovering more slowly, with an estimated 1.2 million people, just 39.6 percent of the 2019 figure, planning to travel abroad this summer.

JTB said closer destinations such as South Korea and Taiwan are becoming more popular due to the weak yen and higher airline fuel surcharges.

H.I.S. Co., another major tourist agency, said the sales of their overseas packages this summer jumped more than seven-fold from 2022.

However, the figure remains only 53.4 percent of the sales in 2019, according to a survey released by the company on July 5.

The average overseas trip budget per person is 178,000 yen, down 13.7 percent from the previous year.

This is due to more budget airlines being back in business and destinations in Asia, which are closer and less expensive, becoming more popular, according to the company.

Surpassing Honolulu, the champion in 2019, Seoul led the list of popular overseas destinations, followed by the Hawaiian capital, Taipei, Singapore and Bangkok.

The South Korean capital is particularly popular among younger tourists, with a third of Seoul vacation packages being reserved by people in their 20s.

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