2,99 million Japanese tourists will travel overseas this summer: Guam, Saipan and Hawaii popular

According to a report in the Japan Times the number of people who will travel overseas from Japan during this year’s summer holiday period is estimated at 2.99 million, the most since JTB Corp. began compiling such data in 2000, the firm said Thursday.

The figure represents a rise of 3.5 percent from a year before in a possible reflection of work-style reform promoted by the government, according to the major travel agency.

Popular destinations include Hawaii, Guam and Saipan.

The average expense per person is expected to rise 6.2 percent to ¥227,700.

The work-style reform legislation “has made it compulsory to take at least five paid holidays every year,” a JTB official noted. As a result, many workers have found it easier to take consecutive holidays, the official added.

But the number of people making overnight or longer domestic trips is expected to drop 0.2 percent to 74.3 million.

The estimates are based on the results of a survey that covered those starting their trips between July 15 and Aug. 31. Airline booking data and the results of online questionnaire research conducted on 1,030 people in June have been taken into account in compiling the figures.

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