Tourism Fukushima sees new records in tourists

[thomas]

Last summer, we spent a week in Fukushima with my brother and his family. While most foreign travellers still associate the prefecture with the nuclear meltdown in 2011, it's seen new records in visitors: a total of 186,160 foreigners stayed overnight in Fukushima Prefecture in 2023, the highest number since the Japan Tourism Agency began collecting relevant data in 2007, with roughly half of them visiting from Taiwan. The number was up by 155,210 from a year earlier, surpassing the previous record of 178,810 visitors set in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.


Great news for Japan, but I'm sad to see even the most rural areas of Japan overrun by tourists.

Of the statistical surveys conducted by the agency, the Fukushima Prefectural Government counts figures for lodging facilities with 10 or more employees and tallies the actual numbers of guests there. The largest number of visitors by region was 91,530 from Taiwan, accounting for about half of the total. Among the countries and regions that the prefectural government designates as priority tourist providers, Thailand placed second, accounting for 19,220 visitors, followed by the United States at 6,640, Vietnam at 4,000 and Australia at 3,200. According to the prefectural government's tourism exchange division, the prefecture has since 2016 been working to attract visitors by establishing local offices in Taiwan and other areas, holding trade events in cooperation with businesses in the prefecture, and disseminating information in other languages. In January this year, charter flights between Fukushima Airport and Taiwan resumed for the first time in four years.

Record 186K foreign guests stayed at hotels in Fukushima Pref. in 2023; half from Taiwan - The Mainichi

FUKUSHIMA -- A total of 186,160 foreigners stayed overnight in Fukushima Prefecture in 2023, the highest number since the Japan Tourism Agency began c

mainichi.jp