Preliminary figures from the Japan National Tourism Organisation show that between January and March, the total number of Europeans from the UK, Germany, France and Russia –some of Japan’s largest European source markets- continue to record growth in total visitors. The four countries generated to Japan 116,070 international arrivals between January and March 2013 compared to 105,320 arrivals for the same period of 2012. This represents a year-on-year growth of 10.21%.

The four markets have together a market share of 5.1% of all international arrivals to Japan. During the first quarter of 2013, the country welcomed 2.25 million international travellers (up by 18% over Jan-March 2012). Russia was the top performer with total arrivals up by 27.3% to 12,800 visitors while France grew by a remarkable 13.8% to reach almost 30,000 arrivals during the first quarter.

There is still a “Fukushima effect” which needs to be fully digested by statistics. The recovery of the market continues out of Europe. France and Germany are still below comparative figures from 2010, with a negative growth of respectively -1.3% and -2.2%. But they strongly improved their position. The UK showed a quicker recover –although timid- of 1.5%. Russia is the only country to have a significant growth in total arrivals at 15.9%.

The surprisingly relative resilience of European arrivals to Japan comes first from the huge share of business travel in total inbound figures out of Europe. It also shows the fidelity of European markets for the brand “Japan”. The country continues to remain a favourite due to its reputation as a highly cultural and trendy destination. And finally, the last phenomenon which is certain to drive recovery now is the weakening of the Japanese yen. Since the end of last year, the Japanese currency lost 40% of its value compared to the European currency. Yesterday, a Euro was buying 132 Yen in foreign markets. In August of last year, the Euro was buying only 95 Yen..." lire à la source