Tourism is hitting another record this spring — not in Hawaiʻi — but on the other side of the Pacific. One factor keeping a lid on Japanese visitors to Hawaiʻi is encouraging more travelers to head to Japan.
In a word, currency. And in two words, weak yen.
The dollar yen level is in a range where it hasnʻt been since George Bush Sr. was president and Iraq invaded Kuwait. The year was 1990 and $1 was worth about 155 yen — the level itʻs trading at this week.
While that's a challenge for Japanese visitors to Hawaiʻi, for U.S. travelers, Japan is on sale.
Costs in the country are more than a third cheaper than they were a little over two years ago. And that's showing up in tourism figures.
Last month, a record number of U.S. travelers went to Japan.
Japan's National Tourism Organization said that overall, more than 3 million foreigners visited Japan in March. That's an all-time monthly record.
One country that's not sending record numbers of visitors to Japan is China — although itʻs still the number three supplier of tourists to the country.
That puts China ahead of Hong Kong — and a bit behind Taiwan — but a good deal behind the top country sending visitors to Japan: South Korea.
