Japan specialist InsideJapan has forecast this year could be its busiest ever, thanks to a busy cherry blossom season and strong forward bookings.
The country closed its borders to tourists for two-and-a-half years during the Covid crisis but the operator said the destination appears to have begun post-pandemic life “where it left off” after a hugely popular 2019.
This year’s spring has been the first since 2019 that international travellers have been allowed into Japan to enjoy ‘Hanami’ cherry blossom season.
Vivienne Boyack, Inside Travel Group’s head of sales, said: “Despite some difficulties around flight availability and some services – and the decision to halt new bookings for travel between April-June, back in late February 2023 – this year has equalled InsideJapan’s busiest ever blossom season.
“Approximately 30% of those sales have been through our agent partners.”
InsideJapan carried about 2,000 passengers on a combination of self-guided adventures and small group tours during the peak blossom period, from mid-March to early April.
The tour operator said is seeing more adventurous family travel bookings for the summer, while the second most popular travel season is autumn.
Boyack added: “Bookings for travel in October are already forecast to exceed that of 2019 which was a Rugby World Cup year that saw record figures for InsideJapan.
“However, the most impressive ‘Koyo’ autumn leaves are usually captured from November into early December.
“We are very confident that Japan’s popularity is not going to be a short-lived trend as spring-timed small group tours and self-guided adventures are already selling for 2024 and beyond.”
Pictured: Cherry blossom in Kyoto.