Apr 01 (Kyodo) - Foreign tourists in Japan spent 744.6 billion yen ($6.7 billion) in 2020, the lowest since the survey began in 2010, as the coronavirus pandemic has led to restrictions on entry into the country, a government estimate showed Wednesday.
The spending dropped 84.5 percent from 2019, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. The result was well below the government's pre-pandemic target of 8 trillion yen, signaling economic fallout from the health crisis and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, originally scheduled for summer 2020.
The agency earlier said the number of foreigners visiting the country last year totaled 4.12 million, down 87.1 percent and the biggest drop since 1964 when comparable data became available, in a blow to the government's ambition to welcome 40 million foreign visitors in an Olympic year.
