The idea of sustainable tourism has big potential for businesses in Japan coming out of the coronavirus situation - it’s less of an investment for already strapped companies. Some of the travel trends we see foreigners wanting to experience will align closely with United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expectations - but in keeping with an increase in the trends and a desire to explore the world safely due the current “new normal” caused by the coronavirus pandemic - and that revolves around sustainable tourism. The change in types of tourists will also likely change significantly. Rather, we see a gradual return to inbound tourism numbers increasing slowly over a year or a year-and-a-half. We’re advising clients not to expect demand for inbound tourism to rebound suddenly one day this summer. That lowered the amount of inbound visitors to just 194,000 compared to the 2,754,000 who visited Japan during the same time in 2019. On April 15, the Japan National Tourism Association (JNTO) reported a 93% decrease in the number of foreign visitors to Japan in March. Post-coronavirus tourism marketing in Japan should focus on local, sustainable and eco-friendly regional travel.

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