Less than 3,000 foreign tourists, the lowest number in decades, visited Japan last month, which is a 99.9 percent year-on-year drop, the national Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing government data
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) Less than 3,000 foreign tourists, the lowest number in decades, visited Japan last month, which is a 99.9 percent year-on-year drop, the national Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing government data.
The decrease marks the first time since 1964 � the year when the Japan Tourism Agency began recording such statistics � that the Asian country received less than 10,000 foreign visitors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has cut the tourist flow by 64.1 percent to 3.94 million in the January-April period compared to 2019, the agency said.
Starting in early April, Japan suspended air traffic with 100 of the countries most affected by the coronavirus outbreak, including the US, Russia and most of Europe.
As of Wednesday, Japan has registered 25 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours in line with the overall decline in the infection rate across the country. The update brings the country's tally to 17,104, while the death toll stands at 786. The numbers include 712 former passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Japan's Yokohama for more than a month and a half.
