According to JNTO statistics, while February inbound visitors were also down sequentially from 46,500 in January, outbound travelers from Japan dropped to 24,800, down from 48,691 in January.
February’s visitor arrivals included 1,700 from China and 900 from South Korea. In January, the highest number of visitors had been 20,000 from Vietnam, however this number dropped to just 200 in February.
Collectively, over the first two months of 2021, the 53,900 inbound visitors to Japan included 20,200 from Vietnam, 11,900 from China and 3,400 from South Korea.
“Due to the spread of COVID-19 late in January, many countries imposed overseas travel restrictions and Japan imposed stricter quarantine restrictions and invalidated visas among other measures,” the JNTO said.
“While still not allowing overseas tourists into Japan, since the end of July, business entry was gradually eased. However, from the end of December new entries were temporarily halted and quarantine requirements were made more strict.
“In January, business track and residence track programs were stopped for all countries and regions, reducing visitor numbers below the preceding month once again.
“International tourist travel still remains stagnant due to the spread of COVID-19 and we must continue to closely observe each country’s travel restrictions and market trends as well as fluctuations in infections.”