“Expansion of Outbound Travel” Specified in National Basic Plan for the First Time In the “5th Basic Plan for Promoting Japan as a Tourism Nation,” approved by the Cabinet in March, “expansion of domestic tourism and outbound travel” was specified for the first time as one of the basic policies. JATA Chairman Hara highly praised this development, stating, “While outbound travel has been mentioned since the First Plan in 2007, this is the first time it has been explicitly stated in the basic policies and positioned as a key pillar of the nation’s tourism policy.” The plan sets a government target of over 20.08 million outbound travelers by 2030—a figure exceeding the 2019 level—for the first time. Looking at recent figures, the number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2025 reached a record high of 42.68 million, with spending totaling 9.5 trillion yen, making tourism the second-largest export industry after the automotive sector. On the other hand, outbound travel by Japanese citizens remains at about 70 percent of pre-COVID levels due to a combination of factors, including the historically weak yen, persistently high airfares, soaring fuel costs, and geopolitical risks such as the situations in Russia and the Middle East. As a result, the ratio of inbound to outbound travel remains heavily skewed at 3 to 1. Mr. Hara pointed out that if this imbalance persists, “it will hinder the maintenance of Japan’s air network and the further expansion of inbound tourism,” and emphasized the need for two-way exchange (two-way tourism).
Promoting Regional Decentralization and Balancing Through “Location” Although travel spending in the domestic market has reached a record high of 26.8 trillion yen, demand continues to be concentrated on weekends and long holidays. Furthermore, regional disparities are evident, with many prefectures seeing less than 10 percent of their lodging revenue come from inbound tourism. Mr. Hara stated, “This concentration is the fundamental problem of overtourism,” and emphasized the need to “break away from the one-sided reliance on the ‘Golden Route’ and establish new, wide-area tourism circuits.” He added that the organization will continue to work toward expanding two-way exchanges by utilizing regional airports. Furthermore, as concrete measures to level out demand and reform vacation patterns, JATA is urging the government, local governments, and the business community to promote the use of paid leave by employees and to introduce “Learning Vacations” (Ra-cation), in which parents and children participate in field trips and other educational activities on weekdays.
© Source travel watch