2017 Visitor Spending Breaks the ¥4 Trillion Barrier

The Japan Tourism Agency announced that in 2017 the amount of money foreign visitors spent on shopping and accommodations rose to ¥4.4 trillion, up by 17.8% compared to figures from 2016. This marks the fifth consecutive year for overall tourist spending to rise and the first time the number has cleared the ¥4 trillion level, thanks in part to growing numbers of foreigners visiting the nation, up 19% to 28.7 million from the previous year’s 24.0 million. Still, this figure is only halfway to the Japanese government’s target of ¥8 trillion in annual tourist spending by 2020.

Individual Tourist Spending Falls For Second Year in a Row

A national breakdown of the figures shows that China accounted for around 40% of all visitor spending at ¥1.7 trillion, up 14.9% from the previous year. Following China was Taiwan at ¥574 billion, up 9.5%, and South Korea at ¥512 billion, a substantial 43.3% increase.

However, spending on an individual level declined for the second year in a row, falling 1.3% from the 2016 average to ¥153,921. China again came out on top at ¥230,000 per visitor, down 0.5%, Australia second at ¥226,000, down 8.5%, and Spain third at ¥213,000, down 5.2%. Tourists from Britain and France, meanwhile, saw their spending climb into the ¥200,000 range during 2017.