日本人宿泊者、コロナ前水準回復　昨年１２月３９４６万人―観光庁

　観光庁が３１日に発表した宿泊旅行統計調査の速報値によると、昨年１２月に国内のホテルや旅館に宿泊した日本人は、延べ３９４６万人だった。新型コロナウイルス流行前の２０１９年同月と比べ４．０％増加。２０年３月以降、初めてコロナ前の水準に回復した。
　昨年１２月は感染状況が落ち着いていたため、宿泊者数の増加につながったとみられる。今年に入ってからは、変異株「オミクロン株」の流行で感染者数が急増。観光庁の担当者は「移動しにくい状況にある」と話しており、１月の宿泊者数は再び低水準になる可能性がある。（2022/01/31-16:47）

The number of Japanese guests at hotels and "ryokan" Japanese-style inns in Japan in December 2021 totaled 39.46 million, up 4.0 pct from December 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the Japan Tourism Agency said in a preliminary report Monday.
   The monthly figure recovered a pre-pandemic level for the first time since March 2020, as the country's coronavirus infection situation was relatively calm in December.
   Since the beginning of the new year, however, new infection cases started surging in Japan due to the spread of the highly transmissible omicron coronavirus variant, making it likely that the number of domestic guests will fall to a low level again in January.
   "In the current situation, it seems difficult for people to travel," an official of the agency said.
   In December, meanwhile, the number of foreign guests at hotels and ryokan inns stood at 320,000, down 95.6 pct from the same month in 2019. The total number of Japanese and foreign guests came to 39.78 million, down 15.6 pct.