Japan tourist spending rises despite drop in visitor arrivals

Foreign visitor spending in Japan rose in the third quarter, according to data released Wednesday by the Japan Tourism Agency, despite a consistent decline in overseas arrivals.

Inbound visitors spent an estimated ¥2.21 trillion ($13.9 billion) between July and September, up 3.2% from the same period in the previous year. The increase came even as visitor arrivals fell 4.8% during the quarter.

In separate data by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Japan had 3.10 million visitors arrive from abroad in September, down 5% from a year earlier. The decline followed a 9.6% drop in August, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2026 to 30.73 million, down 2.9% from the same period last year.

The figures come as Japan approaches the one-year mark since Chinese authorities began issuing advisories urging citizens to avoid travel to Japan in November last year. Beijing has issued multiple warnings along similar lines since then, according to JNTO, contributing to a sharp downturn in what had been one of the country’s largest sources of inbound tourism. JNTO also cited reductions in flight services to and from China as a factor behind the decline.

Arrivals from China fell 44.5% in September to 430,800, compared with 775,657 a year earlier. For the January-September period, Chinese arrivals plunged 55.5% to 3.34 million from 7.49 million a year earlier.

The downturn has extended to spending. Visitors from China spent ¥358.3 billion in the third quarter, down 39.8% from ¥595 billion a year earlier, although spending per person jumped 22.1%, to total ¥294,560. Their share of total inbound tourism expenditure fell to 16.2% from 27.8%.

Despite the overall decline in arrivals, visitors to Japan were spending more on average. Expenditure per visitor, excluding cruise ship passengers, climbed 6.1% to ¥233,677 in the third quarter. Accommodation accounted for the largest share of spending at 35.2%, followed by shopping at 27.7% and food and beverages at 22.9%.

Taiwan overtook China as the largest source of visitor spending, with expenditure rising 26.2% to ¥381.8 billion, accounting for 17.3% of the total.

South Korea recorded inbound figures to Japan jumping 25.6% to 842,300 in the month of September, supported by the Chuseok holiday period and increased airline capacity. Taiwanese arrivals to Japan rose 13% to 595,600. Seven markets, including South Korea, Mexico and the Middle East, recorded their highest September arrivals on record.

Meanwhile, the number of Japanese nationals traveling overseas rose 6.3% in September from a year earlier to 1.48 million. The increase brought the total for the first nine months of 2026 to 11.21 million, up 3.2% from the same period last year.