Aug 04 (Nikkei) - As a record-breaking inbound tourism trend continues in Japan, a closer analysis of government data reveals somewhat skewed regional results.
Analysis has found that, while visitors to Japan from abroad are spread through the country, their spending is concentrated in Tokyo. In the first half of 2019, 16.63 million people visited Japan from abroad, up 4.6% from a year earlier, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. Despite a slowdown in the rate of growth, the number represents an all-time high for the January-June period. Nikkei analyzed data compiled by a subsidiary of NTT Docomo on the number of foreign visitors to municipalities and compared the 2018 figure with that of 2016. Among the findings are that the number of visitors to western Japan has increased by 41%, compared with gains of about 20% for eastern and central Japan. Of the 20 municipalities with the biggest growth rates, 16 are in western Japan. Chuo ward in the city of Osaka, which has sightseeing destinations such as Osaka Castle, logged the biggest gain thanks to an increase in flights by Asian low-cost carriers to Kansai International Airport. A total of 13.95 million people visited the ward in 2018, meaning that one in three tourists who came to Japan visited Chuo ward. But tourist spending showed a very different phenomenon. An analysis of spending by 3.7 million Chinese and other foreign visitors using JCB branded credit cards, including those co-branded with China's UnionPay, in Japan's 47 prefectures in 2018 found that 53% of total consumption happened in Tokyo. Among municipalities, Shibuya ward in Tokyo attracted the biggest amount of spending by foreign tourists.
