LONDON, 27 March 2019: Japan retains the position of third largest travel and tourism economy in the world according to the latest WTTC research released last week.
In 2018, travel and tourism contributed JPY40,604.2 billion to the country’s economy. This is the equivalent of USD367.7 billion which made Japan the third largest travel and tourism economy worldwide above Germany where tourism contributed a total of USD344.8 billion.
WTTC compiles the annual report on 185 countries. The US topped the chart with USD1595
It shows Japan’s travel and tourism economy grew at an annual rate of 3.6% to contribute JPY40,604.2 billion to the country’s economy. This represents 7.4% of all economic activity in Japan
Supporting 4.6 million jobs, or 6.9% of employment, the tourism economy is primarily driven by leisure travellers.
The report showed 68% of spending was generated by leisure visitors and 32% from business travellers (well above the global average of 21.5%)
Spending from domestic travellers represented 82% of the tourism spend, while 18% came from international travellers.
Commenting on performance, WTTC president & CEO Gloria Guevara said: “The plan to double international visitors to 40 million by 2020 and to 60 million visitors by 2030 shows a great understanding of the role of travel and tourism as a driver of economic growth and job creation. With the Rugby World Cup happening later this year and the Olympics in 2020, Japan is set to host two events which should have strong impact on its Travel & Tourism sector.”
(Source: WTTC)
