Japan welcomed a total of 2.68 million international visitors in July 2017, which marks a 16.8% year-on-year increase and a new monthly record.

According to the latest data from the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), reported by Kyodo News, the summer vacation season and an increase in low-cost flights contributed to the growth.

China remains the largest source market, rising 6.8% to 780,800 visitors in July, but the growth was mainly driven by Korean arrivals, which surged 44.1% to 644,000. Visitation from Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Vietnam also rose, according to the JTA.

For the first seven months of 2017, Japan welcomed a total of 16.44m international arrivals, which marked a 17.3% increase compared to the same period last year. This means that the country is now well of track towards recording a new full-year arrivals record, exceeding last year’s all-time-high of 24.04m visitors.

The country is targeting 40m international arrivals by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympics, and 60m by 2030.