Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Ichiro Takahashi said it is possible to reach the target of 5 trillion yen in annual spending by foreign visitors "if the current pace continues in December." The number of foreign visitors is on the pace to reach around 25 million by the end of the year. The government aims to surpass the highest annual figure recorded in 2019 -- 31.88 million -- in 2025. Major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. predicted in a survey released Wednesday that visitor arrivals in the country would reach the highest-ever 33.1 million in 2024. The most arrivals in the reporting month came from South Korea at 649,900, more than three times that of 2019, followed by Taiwan at 403,500, up 2.9 per cent over the same period, China at 258,300, down 65.6 per cent, and Hong Kong at 200,400, up 0.3 per cent. Visitor arrivals from the United States rose 24.0 per cent to 184,800 and those from Mexico jumped 52.4 per cent to 9,900, according to the data. Visitors from Canada rose 17.1 per cent to 39,000.