While traveling is fun, it can also be stressful. Navigating an unfamiliar place can add additional stress that cuts into the enjoyment of your vacation.
That’s why Japan’s government, which is keen on ensuring tourists have a good time here, tracks travelers’ satisfaction with their surroundings on their trip. It just announced this year’s results, which show that the most common complaint tourists have about Japan is…well, nothing at all.
51.1% say it’s all good – a massive improvement from 2023
The survey, conducted by the Japan Travel Agency, involved 4,189 travelers from around the world. The majority came from key Japan travel countries, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the US, with other results from other Southeast Asian countries, Australia, and Europe.
Over 60% of respondents were in their 20s and 30s. 70% were repeaters, or travelers who’d been here two or more times. An astounding 13% of travelers said they’d been here 11 or more times. Some 40% stay a week or longer on each visit.
When asked what issues they’d encountered on their stay, 51.1% said their travel was issue-free. That’s a huge improvement from the previous year’s result, in which only 29.7% said they had no complaints. It’s a good sign that the country has made progress in making travelers’ experiences here an overall pleasant experience.
Progress on garbage and language
Digging into the details, the survey shows progress on two fronts. The first is that only 21.9% of tourists said they found the lack of garbage cans in public places to be a nuisance. That’s down from 30.1% in previous polls.
Digging into the garbage results, the survey found that 70% (city visitors) to 74% (regional visitors) said that, if they couldn’t find a trash receptacle, they simply carried their refuse out with them. Sadly, single-digit percentages of people actually admitted to tossing garbage on the ground, stuffing it into overflowing garbage containers, or putting it in the wrong receptacle (e.g., putting paper garbage into bins meant for plastic bottles).
The survey also found that only 15.2% said they had a hard time communicating with people at facilities like hotels, museums, etc. That’s down from 22.5% and shows progress in reducing the language barrier, a problem that still plagues many smaller businesses.
Crowding, immigration have become issues
It’s not all roses, however. The survey found that 13.1% of respondents complained about crowding at tourist locations. That’s the first time the complaint has appeared on the survey, and indicates that overtourism is taking a toll on tourist satisfaction – on top of annoying the locals, of course.
Among the other negatives were issues during the immigration procedure. 8.6% complained that immigration procedures were bothersome, a big jump from the previous year’s 3.5%. A detailed breakdown shows that tourists had the most complaints about the Shin-Chitose, Kansai International, and Fukuoka Airports. Tourists had far fewer issues at Narita, Haneda, and other ports of entry.
The chief complaint at these locations? Time. 67% said immigration procedures took forever. That’s another sign that Japan’s record-setting tourism, coupled with understaffing, is causing dissatisfaction.
There’s no question that Japan is experiencing growing pains as it aims to host 60 million tourists a year by the 2030s. However, this survey indicates that the country’s efforts to provide an enhanced experience for travelers are yielding positive results.
Sources
令和６年度「訪日外国人旅行者の受入環境整備に関するアンケート」調査結果. Japan Tourism Agency
訪日客が一番困ったことは? 「なし」が5割。「混雑」など新たな課題もー観光庁. Yamatogokoro
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