China¡¯s recent decision to lift its ban on Japan-bound group tours is set to add extra fuel to an ongoing rebound in tourist spending, with the hefty buying power of Chinese travelers helping to further resuscitate Japan¡¯s tourism industry.

Japan has been seeing a recovery in inbound tourism, with the total number of foreign visitors in the first half of this year topping 10 million ¡ª about 65% of the 2019 pre-pandemic level ¡ª according to government data.

Spending by international visitors, meanwhile, is already back to about 91% of the pre-pandemic figure. In the January-June period, Japan logged ?2.22 trillion in inbound spending, compared with ?2.42 trillion in 2019.