Japan Aiming to Attract More Foreign Visitors to National Parks

Tokyo, March 30 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Environment Ministry aims to raise the annual number of foreign visitors to national parks in the country to 14 million by 2030, up 1.4-fold from last year’s total. The target is to be included in the guidelines of the ministry’s project for full enjoyment of national parks, which outlines initiatives to increase both domestic and international visitors to the parks while enhancing their appeal and preserving the natural environment. The ministry will work on improving accessibility and multilingual support. According to the ministry’s data, 9.88 million people from overseas visited the country’s national parks in 2025, growing about 1.5-fold from 2019, achieving the previous target to restore the figure to the level before the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the government’s goal of increasing the annual number of inbound visitors to Japan to 60 million by 2030, the target for national park visitors has been raised. Meanwhile, many challenges remain in attracting foreign tourists, such as difficulties in securing transportation from the nearest stations to the parks and preparing explanations in multiple languages. To tackle the current situation, the project aims to promote cooperation among local governments, regional private businesses and organizations to welcome tourists, and improve visitor satisfaction by creating hands-on content and attractive accommodations. The project also sets targets on the rate of people who would recommend someone to visit regions with national parks, at 90 pct, up from 78 pct in 2025, and average spending by national park visitors, at 300,000 yen, up from 263,000 yen. The aim is to visualize visitor satisfaction among inbound travelers and use the insights for devising further policies. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]