Japan outbound travel at 70% level
- Kyodo News reported Saturday that Japanese residents made 14.73 million trips abroad in 2025, leaving outbound travel stuck at roughly 73% of the record 20.08 million logged in 2019. - The gap is showing up again around Golden Week, when travel companies say the weak yen and higher airline fuel surcharges are keeping many Japanese travelers closer to home. - Japan’s travel rebound is now lopsided: inbound entries hit a record 42.43 million in 2025 while outbound demand still trails pre-COVID levels. (english.kyodonews.net)
Japanese residents made 14.73 million trips abroad in 2025, about 73% of the record 20.08 million taken in 2019, according to a Kyodo News analysis published Saturday. (english.kyodonews.net) Kyodo said the shortfall is still visible heading into Golden Week, one of Japan’s biggest holiday periods for leisure travel. Travel agencies and industry data tied the slower recovery to the weak yen and higher airline fuel surcharges. (english.kyodonews.net) (japantoday.com) The annual total was up from 13.01 million outbound trips in 2024, based on the JTB Foundation’s outbound travel report, but it remained far below the pre-pandemic peak. JTB said 2024 outbound travel was still 35.2% below 2019. (tourism.jp) (english.kyodonews.net) Monthly data showed the same pattern through 2025. Travel Voice reported 1.42 million Japanese went abroad in March 2025, down 26.2% from March 2019, and 1.08 million traveled in May 2025, down 25.1% from May 2019. (travelvoice.jp 1) (travelvoice.jp 2) At the same time, travel into Japan has surged. Immigration Services Agency data showed foreign entries reached 42.43 million in 2025, the first time the annual total topped 40 million since records began in 1950. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) (ntv.co.jp) The agency said the weak yen and a rise in regular international passenger flights helped lift inbound traffic. Nippon.com, citing Japan National Tourism Organization data, separately put international visitors at 42.7 million for 2025, underscoring the scale of the boom even across different counting methods. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) (nippon.com) That split is changing airline economics. CAPA, the aviation research group, said inbound visitors now account for about 60% of Japan Airlines’ international demand, reversing the pre-pandemic pattern when Japan-origin travelers made up roughly 70% to 80%. (centreforaviation.com) The result is a tourism recovery that looks strong from inside Japan’s airports but uneven from the departure gates. Foreign visitors are arriving in record numbers, while many Japanese travelers are still weighing overseas trips against currency pressure and higher ticket costs. (english.kyodonews.net) (centreforaviation.com)
