Japan's Travel Industry Prepares to Reopen Borders to Tourists

Unveiled at the WEF meeting in Davos in late May, Japan took the top spot for the first time, ahead of the United States and Spain in third.

Rising from the fourth position in the 2019 rankings, Japan was rated highly for its wealth of cultural resources and air and rail infrastructure.

In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the world's travel sector, 31.88 million foreigners arrived in Japan.

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The nation was on target to hit the 40 million mark set for the following year when Tokyo was scheduled to host the Olympic Games.

Instead, the Games were postponed until the summer of 2021, tough new travel restrictions were put in place and the Japanese opted to stay home instead of vacationing overseas.

According to government figures, less than 246,000 foreigners entered Japan in 2021, mostly athletes and media connected to the Olympics, business people, diplomats, and some foreign students.

The annual figure was the lowest since statistics were first collected in 1964.

Falling infection numbers

Still, falling infection numbers are raising hopes that the worst of the pandemic may be over.

There were 21,804 new cases of the virus reported among Japan's 125.8 million people on May 31, down dramatically from a peak of 104,345 cases on February 3.

Naomi Mano, president and CEO of boutique travel firm Luxurique, said her regular clients are "desperate to get back to Japan."

"Since the first reports came out in April that the government was considering easing back on the restrictions, we have received so many inquiries from people who want to get here again," she said.

"We are also seeing a lot of interest from people who have had Japan on their bucket list for some time but, for whatever reason, never got around to coming," she said. "Now, those people are making bookings because they don't want to wait any longer."

Luxurique is taking bookings from extended families or groups of friends who are making plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas in Japan, Mano said.