JTB announced that the number of Japanese travelers in this summer holiday season (July 15 to August 31 2026) is estimated to reduce by 4.6% year on year to 71.2 million, which are divided into 69 million domestic travelers (down 4.4%) and 2.2 million overseas travelers (down 8.8%).

The total of travel consumption is expected to reduce by 1.7% to 4,074 billion yen, which are divided into 3,347 billion yen for domestic travels (down 1.4%) and 700 billion yen for overseas travels (down 3.1%). 

The average travel costs are estimated at 48,500 yen per domestic traveler (up 3.2%) and at 323,000 yen per overseas traveler (up 6.3%).

More overseas travelers choose Asia

JTB explained that the reduction in overseas travelers may result from rise in travel cost and continuous geopolitical risks. There is a notable trend of travelers smartly choosing destinations where local prices are relatively affordable, the impact of the weak yen is minimal, and airfares are low.

According to the JTB survey, the most popular destination is South Korea (26.2% of the total), followed by Taiwan (16.2%of the total), and the high growth rates compared to last year are also seen in South Korea (up 6.6 points) and Taiwan (up 6.3 points). Asian destinations account for 79.5% of the total. 

As long as JTB tours are concerned, Hawaii, Singapore,, Guam, South Korea and the west coast of U.S. are preferred. For the west cost of U.S., bookings for MLB tours have been increasing.

Regarding travel days, ‘3 nights, 4 days’ increase, while ‘7 nights or longer’ decrease. To avoid crowds and soaring prices, there is a growing trend of spreading out travel schedules to periods around the summer holidays, such as the "Silver Week" in September.

Domestic travelers pay attention to heat

JTB said that one of notable trends this summer in the domestic travel market is measures against extreme heat. According the survey, 15.8% answered that they want to enjoy indoor experiences to avoid heat. 

Regarding travel days, ‘one night, 2 days’ increase by 2.5 points to 39% because demands shift to shorter destinations and short period. The most popular destination is Kanto (19%), followed by Kinki (14.9%) and Hokkaido (11.2%). In Hokkaido and Kyushu, more than half choose local destinations in their living areas. 

Regarding transportation, ‘car’ is still the most popular (49.6%), but the ratio is down 2.0 points due to rise in the gasoline price.

27.5% don’t reduce travel budgets

The JTB survey finds that 41.8% said that they want to decrease travel budget for the next one year, which shows year on year increases for three years in a row. The ratio of ‘I will travel in this summer’ is 30.6%, 3.6 lower points than a year ago. Main reasons not to travel are ‘because of getting crowded (29.2%)’ and ‘because of limited household budget (26.3%).’

On the other hand, 27.5% said that they don’t reduce budgets for travel or hobby, and 5.4% said that they want to travel regardless of weak yen or rise in prices.

JTB analyzes that Japanese consumers are increasingly adopting a "selective spending" mindset—maintaining robust spending on experiences they personally value, while they have anxieties about the future and desires to save money.