Spending by foreign visitors to Japan is at an all-time high. The figure for the January to September period already exceeds the annual record set last year.
The Japan Tourism Agency says overseas travelers shelled out more than 5.85 trillion yen, or about 39.1 billion dollars, in the first nine months of this year.
That compares with 5.3 trillion yen for all of 2023.
Meanwhile, visitor numbers are also on track to set records. The Japan National Tourism Organization estimates that 26.88 million people from abroad arrived in the first nine months. That already tops last year’s total of just over 25 million.
The annual number is now projected to surpass the record high of 31.88 million set in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.