New flight routes are driving a rise in visitors traveling between Japan and Australia. Qantas Airways has added services from Brisbane to Tokyo, contributing to a notable increase in travel between the two countries. Additional growth is expected as All Nippon Airways prepares to launch its Sydney–Tokyo flights this month.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows Japanese arrivals to Australia rose by 18 percent in September. That gain is part of a broader trend: total international visitor numbers to Australia climbed 10.4 percent in the same month.
“Overall, we will see growth of approximately 30 percent in aviation capacity from Japan by the end of this year,” said John O’Sullivan, managing director of Tourism Australia. “Following the recently signed free-trade agreement, we’re seeing renewed momentum from what remains a key market for Australian tourism.”
Australian travel to Japan is also increasing. More than 30,000 Australians visited Japan in September, a 19.5 percent rise compared with the previous year.
Japan remains an important market for Australian tourism and is currently the country’s seventh-largest inbound market, after previously being the largest.