Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan sets the goal of 1 million Japanese cruise travelers by 2030 to boost the Japan’s cruise market. Japanese cruise travelers were 226,000 in 2024 or 356,000 in 2019 before the pandemic.
The goal is estimated to divine into 70% for Japan-based cruise ships and 30% for foreign-based cruise ships. The ministry also expects that international passengers on Japan-based cruises will account for around 10% of the total, as the inbound travel market continues growing.
Japanese cruise travelers account for 0.03% only of the total of Japanese tourists, which are much lower than 0.59% in U.S.
The ministry, together with private sectors, has discussed expansion of cruise services for individual travelers and diversification of the market from both quality and quantity perspectives.
The discussions include maintenance of networks with local experience suppliers or local travel companies in cruise destinations, expansion of Fly & Cruise, development of onboard entertainment cruises and appeals to young travelers on SNS.
