Weak Yen Propels Tokyo and Osaka as Top Summer Spots for 2025

This summer, Tokyo and Osaka are likely to reign as the world's hottest tourist destinations. In fact, last year, when the yen was trading at its lowest in over 3 decades, Tokyo became the most visited city in the world, overtaking Bangkok which had held the top spot for nearly a decade. Singapore, which itself is a luxury shopping destination, experienced a record outflow of tourism to Japan, driven by a 40% rise in the value of the Singapore dollar against the yen. According to Mastercard’s analysis, travelers from Asia tend to pay closer attention to currency fluctuations than those from US and Europe as such shifts have a greater impact on their overall travel costs.

Other evolving factors shaping the behavior of discerning travelers are the political and economic stability of a destination. For instance, rising instability in the U.S’s global relations has coincided with a notable drop in cross border travel from neighbouring Canada. In March, road traffic from the US to Canada declined 32% year on year, the report indicates.

However, once in a lifetime events continue to attract travelers to splurge, regardless of the state of the economy or its political affinities. Globally, major sports events are likely to encourage big tourist spending in 2025 as they did in 2024. According to Mastercard data, foreign cardholders contributed significantly to big purchases made during key global sporting tournaments, through the year. For instance, late last year, Los Angeles saw a 91% increase in spending by Japanese travelers during the 10-day period surrounding Shohei Ohtani's World Series debut. This hike was six times higher than the overall cross-border spending boost seen around the Dodger stadium during the same timeframe. Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Among emerging hotspots, Jeddah and Riyadh are gaining notable traction with international travelers as Saudi Arabia makes a big push to boost tourism with new, attractive infrastructure in a bid to diversify its economy. Late last year, Ritz Carlton debuted its first reserve property along the Red sea coastline with overwater and beach villas, attracting global big spenders to Saudi Arabia.

For wellness seekers, Namibia, South Africa and Thailand are the popular summer destinations this year, particularly from June to September. Gourmet luxury travellers are likely to lean towards destinations such as Cannes in France, Mykonos in Greece and Miami Beach in the U.S.