1.3 million Hongkongers visit Japan in first half of 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels

She said the number of visitors from Hong Kong to Japan had been on the rise and was likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels for the entire year.

The country recorded more than 2.29 million Hong Kong visitors in 2019, while 2.11 million Hongkongers visited Japan last year when the city reopened its borders after three years of pandemic restrictions.

The country received 1.28 million visitors from Hong Kong in the first six months of this year, a 16 per cent increase from the same period in 2019, she added.

In contrast with the influx of Hong Kong tourists in Japan, the number of trips made by Japanese to Hong Kong between January to May this year was 237,592, or 40.9 per cent of the 580,241 recorded over the same period in 2019.

“I think one of the major reasons is the weakening Japanese yen. It’s not just Hong Kong, but the Japanese people or young people cannot afford to travel overseas,” she said.

The minister said she hoped more Japanese would travel to the city as she observed Hong Kong’s cultural vibrancy when she visited the contemporary art museum M+ and considered its exhibition “one of the best in the whole of Asia”.

“Hong Kong has such wonderful museums,” she said, adding that she “wanted to let people know how wonderful the culture is”.

A total of 161 countries or regions and nine international organisations will take part in the World Expo in Japan, with more details expected to be revealed later this year.

“It is not only an opportunity for visitors to see Japanese culture, but also a great opportunity for everybody to see different cultures and different art. We are expecting about 28.8 million visitors,” Jimi said, adding that the figure would include 3.5 million international travellers.

“We will have the business matching opportunities, so we do hope that people from Hong Kong, from the private sector and the business sector, will come and visit the Expo.”

The minister said the budget rise was because of a 28 per cent increase in the price of construction materials and a 10 per cent increase in labour costs over the past two years.

Jimi also said the Covid-19 pandemic had shortened the preparation time from five to four years and left some countries facing problems in constructing their showcase pavilions.

But she said only four of the 41 countries had yet to finalise the construction details, while the others had start or complete their pavilions.

Jimi added that the pavilions built by the Japanese government and private sector were “going smoothly”.

Jimi said the Japanese government still had “a lot of room for improvement”, citing examples of providing more English and Chinese signage for tourists.

Authorities were also working to encourage better manners and public behaviour of international tourists – such as not littering – though Jimi was quick to point out that Hong Kong tourists did not bring such problems.

Official data showed Japan had more than 3 million visitors for a third straight month in May. Arrivals were up 60 per cent from the same period last year and 9.6 per cent higher than that in 2019.