Tokyo, Jun 22 (IANS): The estimated number of foreign travellers who visited Japan came reached 1,898,900 in May, equivalent to 68.5 per cent of the May 2019 figure prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, government data showed.
May is considered an off-season following Japan's cherry blossom season, but the month's figure surpassed April's recovery level of 66.6 per cent, marking the highest number since February 2020 when arrivals began to plummet due to the pandemic, Xinhua news agency quoted the Japan National Tourism Organisation as saying.
Compared to May 2022, the number of foreign visitors this year increased 12.9-fold, it added.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese who went overseas reached 675,700, a five-fold increase from May last year, but still 53.0 per cent less than the same month in 2019.