Outbound Travel from Japan Continues to Climb, With Big Growth in October

Published on November 27, 2025

As of October 2025, the Japanese outbound travelers reached a total of 1,243,600, an 8.3% increase from the year prior. Even though, the growth reflects a steady recovery in the international travel from Japan it Corporate Travel % contains data that states it is still 25.2% behind the pre-pandemic numbers from October 2019. At this time 1.66 million travelers had taken overseas trips. JNTO has indicated that, though the yearly growth number has begun to stall in recent months, it continues to show that international tourism from Japan is growing.

Although growth appears to be slower, Novembers data does show that the Japanese traveler continues to expand in international travel. Their data confirms that the growth is just not where it might be desired. Limiting conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and adjusting patterns of travel behavior, mean that the number of Japanese travelers still faces its most challenging obstacles to reach the levels of travel before Covid-19.

Travel from Japan Reaches New Heights

Given that the number of Japanese travelers increased by 8.3% from the previous year in 2025, it is clear that travel, especially international travel, is becoming better available for Japanese travelers and is in improving demand. Travel demand, Japanese travelers international tourism included, has increased in demand, as international travel restrictions have eased over the years and more and more countries are opening their borders and providing more flexibility tourism-wise. Japan’s outbound tourism recovery reflects the behavior of other countries, as travelers are more and more likely to travel internationally for vacations, business, and for family reunions.

Even though the growth figure for 2025 is significantly lower for the year than the previous travel demand forecast, it is still likely to cause the travel industry to be bullish. Also, based on the numbers, it is likely that travelers are still somewhat cautious in their travel planning from an economic and financial standpoint. Nevertheless, more than ever, Japanese travelers are showing with their numbers that recovery from the pandemic is on track and the interest from Japanese travelers in international destinations is in exceptionally high demand.

Destination Preferences for Japanese Tourists

Even though we don’t have actual data about locations Japanese travelers are visiting in October 2025, we can still identify popular tourist locations for Japanese residents as this information is easily available for previous years, as Japanese citizens travel a lot to East Asia, Europe, North America, Southeast Asia. Countries like the United States, South Korea, China, Thailand and France mostly attract Japanese tourists due to their cultural connections, tourism attractions, and ease to travel to/from these countries.

Southeast Asia especially remains a hotspot for short, cheap travel. Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are easy to reach and popular tourist locations, thus are often selected by Japanese travelers. Their natural beauty and cultural experiences appeal to the Japanese. Japan’s cultural interest in Europe and the United States explains its citizens’, especially, Japan women’s love for traveling to France, Italy and the USA.

It is the tourism professionals in Japan who have noticed that unlike regional travel, there is a slow recovery in long-haul travel and this is due to the high cost associated with travel to long haul destinations. Many Japanese citizens also show a preference for short-haul travel, especially for leisure travel.

Forecasting the Future of the Travel Industry

Japan’s outbound tourism is a vital driver of growth across the entire travel and hospitality industry. Travel professionals in Japan and travel destination countries are working creatively to tailor travel offerings and services to meet the needs, expectations and demands of post-pandemic travelers. Japan’s outbound tourism is in recovery, but travel recovery on a global scale is underway.

Japan’s outbound tourism is on the rise, in tandem with a re-opening and recovery of global tourism, Japanese travelers will once again be participating on a global scale in cultural and civic tourism, nature tourism, and urban tourism. Japan’s outbound travel is generating global travel and tourism interest; however, it remains crucial that global tourism be well managed and sustainable.

Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) across the globe will need to adapt specific travel marketing strategies and services to meet the needs of the Japanese travel market, characterized by a demand for convenience, safety, and cultural and service enrichment. Japan’s outbound travel market will continue to generate global optimism through its tourism and hospitality sectors.

Consequences of the Slow Recovery on Travel-Related Industries

Japan’s cultural services industries such as air transport, travel intermediaries, hospitality, and guide services will keep tracking the recovery of the outbound travel demands. Though the increase in outbound travelers is a positive sign, the remaining 25% gap compared to 2019 shows that the industry is still struggling to fully recover. Thus, the tourism related sectors will have to make more adjustments in pricing, and offer more digital marketing and customer service to attract Japanese travelers and offer them a seamless trip.

Moreover, Japan’s travel services industry will need to deal with the issues travelers have on safety, health regulations, and convenience of booking. As the world tourism industry changes, it will probably make more diversified travel packages that are adaptable to the convenience of travelers, especially those for eco-tourism.

Conclusion

The inherent issues as a result of the pandemic are becoming more of an obstacle in international travel from Japan, while at the same time, travel from Japan was only increasing during this time, as travel from Japan saw another 8.3% increase year-on-year during the month of October 2025. Japan’s travel market was almost fully recovered at this stage. However, during this time of travel market recovery, more attention needed to focus on travel options, experience marketing, and the unique issues that travels during/post pandemic travel have.

With the patterns and behaviors as a result of the pandemic, the world’s tourism industry was made to adapt to these trends. The world’s travel destinations remained open to the Japanese market and with this, the travel industry in Japan was made to adapt to these new behaviors. In Japan’s travel and tourism market more than ever, experience, and travel diversity are comprised most of the travelers. Japan’s businesses and travel destinations must adapt to this new culture of travel.