Japan’s Travel & Tourism sector grew at more than twice the rate of the wider economy in 2017, according to major new research released today by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to the Japanese economy in 2017 was JPY37,136 billion, once all the direct, indirect and induced benefits were taken into account. This represented an annual rise of 3.4% against growth of 1.6% for the wider economy.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said “This is a strong performance by the Japanese Travel & Tourism sector which reinforces the role of our sector as major contributor to economic growth and job creation. International arrivals have been very strong in recent years as Japan looks to its target of 40 million international visitors by the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.”

Other highlights of the report released today show:

Travel & Tourism supported 4.2 million jobs in 2017 (6.4% of total Japanese employment)
By 2028 over 4.5 million jobs in Japan are forecast to be dependent on Travel & Tourism
Japan is the 4th largest travel economy in the world

Ms Guevara continued: “Travel & Tourism creates jobs, drives economic growth and helps build better societies. This is particularly the case in Japan where the tourism economy is growing at more than double the rate of the wider economy. This makes Travel & Tourism the perfect partner for the creation of quality long-term jobs and economic growth. We commend the Japanese Government for their commitment to creating a thriving tourism sector and managing long-term growth in a sustainable way which protects both natural resources and destination integrity.

“Globally, 2017 was one of the strongest years of GDP growth in a decade. Our sector now supports one in ten jobs on the planet and contributes 10% of global GDP. Over the past ten years, one in five of all jobs created across the world has been in the sector and, with the right support from Governments, nearly 100 million new jobs could be created over the decade ahead.”