訪日客、１千万人超え　コロナ前の６割回復、消費も拡大―２３年上半期

　日本政府観光局が１９日発表した２０２３年上半期（１～６月）の訪日外国人数（推計値）は前年同期比約２１倍の１０７１万２０００人だった。新型コロナウイルス禍前の１９年同期との比較では６４．４％の水準にまで戻った。昨秋の水際対策の大幅緩和や今年４月末の撤廃を受けて、東アジアや米国中心に訪日需要が本格的に回復。円安により日本への旅行の割安感が増したことも追い風となった。
　６月単月では前年同月比約１７倍の２０７万３３００人となった。感染拡大で訪日客が急減して以来初めて２００万人を突破。回復率は７２．０％（５月は６８．５％）で、日本への団体旅行禁止措置が続く中国（香港・マカオ以外）を除けば９割を超えた。
　また、観光庁が１９日公表した２３年４～６月期の訪日外国人旅行消費額（速報値）は１９年同期比４．９％減の１兆２０５２億円だった。２３年１～３月期に続いて１兆円の大台を超えた。（2023/07/19-18:28）

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in January-June is estimated to have soared about 21-fold from a year earlier to exceed 10 million, government data showed Wednesday.
   In the first half of 2023, the country recorded an estimated 10,712,000 visitors from overseas, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. The figure was 64.4 pct of the level in the first half of 2019, before the spread of COVID-19.
   The Japanese government's drastic easing of its pandemic-related border control measures last autumn and subsequent lifting of those measures at the end of April this year contributed to the sharp rebound in the number of foreign visitors, especially from East Asia and the United States.
   Also behind the rebound was a weaker yen, which made travel to Japan cheaper.
   In June 2023 alone, the number of foreign visitors jumped 17-fold from a year before to reach 2,073,300, crossing the two million threshold for the first time since the spread of COVID-19 led to a plunge in the number of such visitors.