The head of Japan’s travel agents’ association has warned that the post-pandemic recovery of the country’s tourism industry will hinge on whether it can reshape itself to cater to the spending habits of western travellers, in the continuing absence of tourists from China.

With the yen falling sharply against the dollar, Hiroyuki Takahashi, chair of the Japan Association of Travel Agents, told the Financial Times that the industry should take advantage of the situation “to refine our luxury tourism products and sell them to wealthy travellers”.

Data released this week showed Japan received 498,600 overseas visitors last month — more than double the 206,500 who visited in September — after the lifting of all Covid-related travel restrictions. Even so, the number of inbound tourists was still down 80 per cent from October 2019, a year when a record 31.8mn people visited Japan.