The impact of migration on tourism demand: evidence from Japan

This paper investigates the impact of migration on both inbound and outbound Japanese tourism flows during the period 2000-2013. The results reveal that the stock of immigrants in Japan represents an important determinant of inbound tourism flows. The effect remains positive and statistically significant after disaggregating the flows by purpose of visit, though the impact is higher for “holiday” than for “business” arrivals. The number of Japanese residing abroad does not affect the inbound tourist arrivals. On the contrary, they exert a noticeable effect on outbound tourism flows, whilst immigrants in Japan seem not to have a significant effect.