Japan Online Travel Overview Tenth Edition

Summary

Japan’s economy continues its journey through troubled waters with GDP growth hovering around a modest 1% for the fourth consecutive year.  Slowing exports and an aging population are major contributing factors to this sluggish growth.  However, gradually increasing wages and Tokyo’s preparations to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games both contribute to a cautiously optimistic outlook for infrastructure development, employment and inbound travel.

These improving prospects are good news for Japan’s total travel market, which is forecast to expand slowly through 2020, and then experience a post-Olympics correction in 2021. The Japanese government has instituted various programs to stimulate domestic demand for travel as it has for other sectors, but the effects of those incentives are past their peak, and the travel industry is now focusing its energies on attracting inbound travelers. This strategy is paying off, helped by the weakness of the yen against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the renminbi, making Japan a more affordable and accessible option for some of travel's biggest source markets.