The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has reported a 4.9% decline in inbound visitation in January – the first time since COVID the country has endured a monthly drop.
The decline has been entirely attributed to an absence of Chinese visitation in the wake of a diplomatic dispute sparked by comments from Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, regarding Taiwan in November. Takaichi told Japan’s parliament that if China used military force against Taiwan, it may justify a military response from Japan under its security laws.
China subsequently issued an official warning against its citizens travelling to Japan.
According to the JNTO’s figures, arrivals from China fell 61% year-on-year in January, even greater than the 45% decline seen in December. Visitation from Hong Kong also dropped by 18% although other jurisdictions such as South Korea, Taiwan and the United States saw a rise.
Reuters noted in a report that Chinese tourism has been key to Japan’s post-COVID tourism recovery, contributing around a fifth of total tourism revenue last year – the first time visitor arrivals have topped 40 million.
The news agency also quoted Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute, who stated, “It’s a drop overall [in January] but negative impacts on the number of tourists has been cushioned by an increase in those coming from other areas.
“I expect foreign tourists overall to stay on a rising trend and domestic tourists should travel more as inflation eases so there won’t be any catastrophic effects on Japan’s tourist industry due to a fall in Chinese tourists.”
Japan is targeting 60 million inbound visitor arrivals and JPY15 trillion in tourism revenue by 2030 – the same year MGM Resorts is due to open the country’s first and only integrated casino resort in Osaka.
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