Japanese travelers to China drastically decrease

SHANGHAI — The number of Japanese travelers to China has drastically decreased after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's November remarks on how Japan might respond to a Taiwan emergency caused relations between the two countries to deteriorate, according to tourism industry officials.

Combined with the recent decrease in Chinese travelers to Japan, the travel industry, which has served as a bridge between the two countries even in times of heightened diplomatic friction, has suffered a double blow.

"Japanese travel fell 90 percent as a result of a rapid rise in booking cancellations and flight reductions," one travel agency official said.

Fuel surcharges by airlines following the conflict in the Middle East are now causing a "triple punch" for the industry along with a shortage of seats due to flight cuts and a drop in interest in travel to China, the official added.

The deterioration in relations between the two countries came after the number of Chinese travelers to Japan had recovered last year to about half of its 2019 level before the coronavirus pandemic, the official said.

According to a different official at a travel agency in Shanghai who handles Japanese travelers, half of the Japanese group tours to the city have been canceled since November, with the official surmising that there were safety concerns.

In some cases, tours were called off due to sudden flight cancellations, the official said.

Since Takaichi's remarks in parliament in November suggesting Japan could respond in support of the United States if Taiwan is attacked, China has implemented trade restrictions and urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan. Taiwan is a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own territory.

Consequently, Chinese airlines announced a series of flight cancellations to Japan.

Japanese-speaking tour guides are facing lower income and the risk of unemployment in tourist destinations such as Shaanxi Province, home to the Terracotta Army, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where all direct flights from Japan have been canceled.

"I haven't given a tour to a single Japanese tourist this year," said a Chinese man who has worked as a Japanese-language guide for around 30 years.

The 57-year-old guide added that a Japanese high school trip scheduled for April was also canceled.

Another guide in Beijing also said there have barely been any Japanese tourists since March and that his income has decreased by 90 percent.

With many Japanese-speaking guides having left the industry since the coronavirus pandemic and demand for them drying up due to the recent friction, he said, "New Japanese-speaking guides will not be able to receive proper training" unless Japanese travelers increase and create jobs again. "This will make it difficult in the future to arrange group tours with local guides."

Japanese visitors had once ranked among the largest groups of travelers to China, but the official from the major Japanese travel agency said that the package tour business will not recover unless relations between the two countries improve and more flights become available.

© KYODO