Chinese tourist numbers have fallen below half, leading to a decrease in foreign visitors to Japan in the first half of this year for the first time in five years. In contrast, the number of Korean tourists exceeded 5.67 million, making them the largest group by nationality, while visitors from Taiwan and the United States also increased, significantly offsetting the decline from China. Despite the drop in visitor numbers, travel spending in Japan has actually risen.
The Japan National Tourism Organization reported on July 15 that the number of foreign visitors to Japan in the first half of this year (January to June) totaled 21,084,800, a 2.0% decrease from the same period last year. This marks the first decline in the first half of the year since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. In June alone, 3,148,600 people visited Japan, a 6.8% drop compared to the same month last year, continuing a three-month streak of declines.
The primary reason for the decrease in visitors is the sharp decline in Chinese tourists. In the first half of the year, the number of Chinese visitors fell to 2,058,200, down 56.4% from the same period last year. This decline follows comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November regarding Japan's potential involvement in Taiwan's defense, which prompted the Chinese government to urge its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan. In June, the number of Chinese visitors was 340,700, a 57.3% decrease from the same month last year, marking seven consecutive months of decline.
Asahi Shimbun noted that the Chinese government's travel advisories are backed by institutional mechanisms that allow it to control citizens' overseas travel. Hiroshi Kajii, a professor at Aichi University who studies China's tourism regulations, explained in an interview with Asahi Shimbun that the Chinese government designates travel destinations for its citizens and manages overseas group travel through travel agency licensing. Chinese citizens cannot apply for Japanese tourist visas directly at the Japanese embassy in China; they must go through government-designated travel agencies. As a result, travel agencies find it difficult to oppose government policies regarding their operating licenses. Kajii stated that even without official prohibitions, verbal directives from authorities can effectively halt the sale of travel packages to Japan and the acceptance of visa applications.
In fact, the Chinese government reportedly instructed travel agencies last November to reduce the sale of group travel packages to Japan and to stop accepting applications for group travel visas. Chinese airlines have also significantly cut back on flights to Japan. This situation mirrors the response in 2017 when China limited travel agency sales of packages to South Korea in retaliation for the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, resulting in a drop in Chinese visitors to South Korea from 8.07 million to 4.17 million.
The decline in Chinese tourists has been largely compensated by increases in visitors from Korea and Taiwan. In the first half of the year, the number of Korean visitors rose by 18.6% to 5,675,100, the highest among nationalities. Taiwanese visitors increased by 20.9% to 3,972,200, while American visitors grew by 7.1% to 1,821,700. In June, visitor numbers from Korea, Taiwan, and the United States all reached record highs for that month.
Despite the overall drop in visitors, travel spending has increased. In the first half of this year, foreign tourists' travel expenditures in Japan reached 4.8469 trillion yen (approximately $44.35 billion), a 1.3% increase from the same period last year. In the second quarter, spending also rose to 2.5096 trillion yen, marking a 0.2% increase and setting a record for that quarter. Per capita travel spending in the second quarter increased by 3.3% to 244,457 yen (approximately $2,237). This increase is attributed to rising spending by tourists from regions outside of China amid a continued depreciation of the yen.
However, per capita spending among Korean tourists actually decreased. In the second quarter, the per capita expenditure for Korean tourists fell by 2.3% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, per capita spending for Chinese and Taiwanese tourists increased by 9.4% and 9.2%, respectively, while tourists from Indonesia and the Philippines saw increases of 34.4% and 15.1%.
Tourism to Japan has become a major source of foreign currency for the economy. Last year, foreign tourists' travel expenditures in Japan reached 9.45 trillion yen, more than eight times that of 2010. When compared to Japan's export figures for specific items, this amount exceeds that of semiconductors and electronic components, and is second only to automobiles.
The Japanese government aims to increase annual foreign visitors to 60 million and travel spending to 15 trillion yen by 2030. Last year, the number of foreign visitors reached a record high of 42.68 million, but the recent travel restrictions imposed by the Chinese government highlight how diplomatic factors can disrupt the entire Japanese tourism market. Asahi Shimbun pointed out the need to address the concentration of visitors in major urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka and to expand consumption in regional areas and services.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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