Feb 22, 2018 (Japan Times) - The estimated number of foreign visitors for January rose 9 percent from a year earlier to 2,501,500, a record for the month, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday.
But the growth rate was the slowest since last March partly because the Lunar New Year, a major holiday season celebrated in China and elsewhere, which began later this year. The holiday period started in late January a year ago.
“We had expected the possibility of a drop in the number but it turned out solid. It is a good start†to the year, Akihiko Tamura, commissioner of the agency, said at a news conference.
Over the Lunar New Year holidays in February, Tamura said many travelers from China chose to visit snowy areas such as Hokkaido, the Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture.
By country and region, visitors from South Korea ranked first at 803,800, up 28.5 percent from a year earlier, likely due to an increase in low-cost carrier flights.
Visitors from China came second at 632,300, up 0.3 percent, followed by those from Taiwan at 350,500, down 0.1 percent, and Hong Kong at 160,500, a drop of 13.5 percent. The number of visitors from the latter two regions also fell in part due to the timing of the Lunar New Year.
