Growing interest & better connectivity propelling tourism to Japan

233,000 Indians visited Japan in 2024: Ryo Bunno

In 2024, Japan witnessed a record number of Indian visitors, reaching 233,000. Driven by economic growth, better flight connectivity, and increased interest, the surge in visitors is significant. Ryo Bunno, Executive Director, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) tells India Outbound the strategies that fuelled this growth and the plans to attract more of the upper-class segment of society.

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How many Indians visited Japan in 2024?

In 2024, it was 233,000. It is the highest number ever, so we are very happy to reach that number. This year, we are making effort to reach even higher than that, but it is not only us, but also we work together with all of the stakeholders like travel agents and airlines and now Indians are also very keen to visit Japan. So, we expect the number this year will be more than 2024.

What is your target for this year?

Yeah, actually we don’t have a target number. But, just that we want to increase more than 2024.

What led to your success last year?

I think there are several reasons. One reason is economic growth of Indian market. So now travel overseas is kind of booming, so that is why they want to go to Japan.

Indian travellers are interested in Japan more than before

But also, air connectivity is improving as airlines add more flights from Japan to India. For instance, Japan Airlines (JAL) used to have three days per week flights from Bengaluru to Narita, which they have increased to five days per week now. And they will increase it further to make it a daily flight from the next schedule from next month. Also, the number of connecting flights is also rising.

And also connecting flights is expanding, so that’s why it is more convenient to go to Japan nowadays. And the third reason is the Indian people are more familiar with Japan or Japanese society. And they are collecting information by themselves, so nowadays not only do they visit the Golden Route from Tokyo to Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, but they are also asking us about other regions like Hokkaido, Hokuriku and the Alpine Route.

So now they are interested in Japan more than before and that is why it is also a good opportunity for us.

Are you looking at high-end travellers as Japan is known to be an expensive destination?

Yeah, Japan is not cheap but not very expensive destination, either. Our main target is upper-middle class, not very high-end. Because upper-middle class is the biggest volume zone, so that is why. And nowadays the younger generation also wants to go to Japan.

It is not backpackers, but let us say the number of budget travellers is also increasing. So, we are not looking only at the luxury market, but also the upper-middle and middle class as well.

For a budget traveller, is Japan more like Europe or South East Asia in terms of expenses?

No, not that kind. Yeah, so for instance, in Nabari, it is 7 or 8 nights, and INR 400,000-5,00,000 per person, including the air flights. So, it is almost the same as Switzerland.