The Japan National Tourism Organization's (JNTO) monthly statistics revealed that 87,900 U.S. travelers visited Japan in June, the highest monthly number ever recorded.
The U.S. market has been sending a steady number of visitors to Japan in the past decade, including a prompt recovery in visitors to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. In addition, April and May saw a recordbreaking number of U.S. visitors. On top of that, the total number of U.S. visitors in the first half of 2014 clocked in at 446,000, which is the highest among previous six-month periods.
The number of U.S. visitors to Japan has been recovering since the drop caused by the financial crisis in 2008. Because the overall international recovery rate has been very minimal, the consistent recovery in the number of US travelers to Japan is especially worth noting.
In-depth analysis has shown that the positive progress is the result of continuous tourism promotion activities by JNTO and other Japanese local government offices over the last few years. Other contributing factors for the increase include additional direct flights between the U.S. and Japan and the favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollars against the Japanese yen.
Along with consistent growth in the U.S. market to Japan comes an increasing awareness of the popularity of its destinations to international travelers. Travel+Leisure crowned Kyoto the World’s Best City in their World’s Best Awards 2014. JNTO aims to leverage this opportunity with further tourism campaigns targeted to reach millions of foreign visitors annually.
The Japan National Tourism Organization has been promoting the region's cultural and historic attractions and high-quality hospitality culinary experiences. In preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Japan National Tourism Organization is promoting experiences involving high speed train travel, regional food culture and historic sites.
Japan has also seen positive growth on the international events front and was designated as the #7 meetings nation in the world in recent rankings from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
