Within a nine-month period, the Japan National Tourism Organization reported that the nation earned 5.86 trillion yen ($39.27 billion) from tourist spending, surpassing the previous annual record of 5.3 trillion yen set in 2023.
With its capability to fuel the weak yen, the nation is now considering Tourism spending, already classified as an export in national accounts, as the second-biggest export sector, surpassing electronic components but behind autos.
Data from July to September revealed that while the average visitor spent 223,000 yen on their trip, Italian tourists contributed the most, followed by visitors from Spain and Russia.
Japan has welcomed 26.88 million tourists so far this year, putting the country on track to break the record of 31.9 million visitors set in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. July saw the highest number of visitors, with around 3.29 million, while September recorded 2.87 million arrivals.
