Travel agents and tour operators around the world are seeing an influx of bookings made for countries in Asia and Japan is leading the charge.
Opening it’s borders in October, Japan has seen a recent rise in tourism, with many operators saying they can not run enough tours to keep up with the demand for the land of the rising sun.
“Japan is booming right now. All of our departures in March and April for the cherry blossom season have sold out,” president, Alexander + Roberts, Scott Avera, told Travel Weekly (US) (TWUS)
Avera also said that 75 per cent of their bookings are new clients, while president, TTC Tour Brands, Melissa DaSilva, told TWUS, “We saw a 136 per cent growth in travellers requesting a quote for trips to the destination over the same time period compared with 2019, and for the full year to date, total travellers booked is up over 25.”
Other big movers in the Asian market are Vietnam and South Korea, with some agents saying they believe pop-culture highlights of the last few years such as K-Pop and the hit TV show Squid Game have drawn attention to the region.
Thailand and Cambodia are also on the rise as well as recent increase in interest for India among many agents.
One Asian nation that has not been a part of the recent tourism boom is China which can be linked to a recent spike in COVID cases towards the end of 2022, as well as increasing geopolitical concerns between the Chinese and United States Government.
“People aren’t ready to go back (to China) yet,” CEO, Remote Lands, Catherine Heald, explained to TWUS.
