The largest growth showed visitors from mainland China with total arrivals 19.3% up compared to the previous year; obviously boosted by the Lunar New Year as well as by relaxing visa formalities by Japan's government for mainland Chinese tourists. Taiwan also performed well with an impressive growth of 10.5%. The numbers of the South Koreans visiting Japan, on the contrary, was 3% lower last month.
Additional flights introduced by Japanese and international carriers were also a reason of the spike in foreign tourists arrivals. Besides a higher number of flights, Japanese biggest airlines are prepared to slash fuel surcharges for many of their international flights this spring. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have announced that in April and May lower fuel charges will be applied. It is expected that fuel surcharges will be slashed by over 60% due to lower crude-oil prices. Fuel surcharges which are added to international airfares are normally based on fuel prices. As a rule, airlines revise them every two months.
Foreign Visitors Arrivals in Japan Up 7.5% in January
News in Asia
Foreign visitors arrivals to Japan hit a historic maximum in January 2019 reaching 2.68 million travellers, a considerable 7.5% rise on year to year basis as reported by the Japan National Tourism Organization.