2021 Volume 44 Issue 3 Pages 63-74
This study focuses on individual foreign tourists who make up 70% of tourists visiting Japan, and measures the degree of regional variance of the number of visitors and consumption in contrast with the population of each prefecture using government statistics. Results indicate that the regional dispersion of consumption is low compared to the number of visitors to Japan. The main reason is that consumption is concentrated on limited areas, such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, whereas consumption in neighboring areas is relatively less compared to the the total number of inbound visitors. Findings from visitor stratified analyses suggested that nationalities that have numerous people visiting Japan many times, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, tend to display high levels of local diversification in terms of consumption. In addition, the older the visitor and the longer the stay in Japan, the higher the degree of regional dispersion of consumption.
