Coronavirus: Japan tops world tourism ranking despite Covid-19 restrictions

Japan topped the World Economic Forum's 2021 travel and tourism development report despite being closed to international travellers due to coronavirus restrictions.

Japan scored #1 for its cultural resources and infrastructure, followed by the U.S. and Spain.

Japan ranked fourth for air transport infrastructure, sixth for land and port infrastructure, and 12th for natural resources. 107th in climate change response.

Western nations won the top six rankings, with Australia in seventh and Singapore in ninth out of 117 countries and regions.

Japan has restricted its borders to international tourists since the early stage of the coronavirus epidemic in 2020, increasing its border control in November to ban the admission of non-resident foreign nationals.

Japan has eased Covid-19 border rules since March and plans to double the cap for overseas visitors in June.

Since the last report in 2019, Japan placed fourth. WEF said Japan would have ranked second in 2019 under the new criterion.