The willingness of Chinese tourists to visit Japan has declined, and the Japanese industry is worried

In just over two weeks, the mood of Japanese tourism workers is like riding a roller coaster. On August 10, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the third batch of resumption of outbound group tours, expanding 78 at one time on the basis of the first two batches of pilot resumption of 60 destination countries and regions, and Japan ranked among them and became the most popular destination for National Day travel on major tourism platforms in China. On the 24th, Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant started to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea, and the willingness of Chinese tourists to travel to Japan was greatly reduced, and even some tourists withdrew from the group, and many Chinese tourism enterprises also adjusted their National Day tourism promotion plans.

Travel agencies: Some tourists choose to withdraw from the tour

The Global Times reporter asked a travel agency about the business of a tour group to Japan, and the other party said that the price of Japanese tour products for 5 days and 6 nights during the National Day period was about 9,000-10,000 yuan, and the number of people in the group was 16-30. However, due to the negative effects of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge incident, there is some uncertainty about whether the minimum number of tour participants can be reached by then, so travel agencies currently recommend that individual travel is the safest.

The person in charge of a large travel agency told the Global Times reporter that after Japan launched the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, many tourists expressed concern about this, and some tourists who had signed up for the "11th" Japanese group tour chose to withdraw from the group. The person in charge said that for tourists who leave the tour, the travel agency will refund them without damage or assist them in changing tourism products in other destinations.

Zhang Yu, general manager of Donkey Mother Tourism and Vacation Division, revealed that due to the general increase in the price of air tickets, hotels, ground connections, visas and other tourism resources, the price of outbound travel during this year's "November" Golden Week generally increased by more than 4 to 50% compared with the same period in 2019, and the prices of some popular outbound destination products doubled. For example, during the National Day period, the round-trip air tickets from Shanghai to Tokyo and Osaka are more than 7,000-8,000 yuan, more than double the price in the off-season, which directly "dissuades" many guests who plan to travel.

A reporter from the Global Times inquired on Ctrip's official website on the 28th and found that the Air China ticket fare between Beijing and Osaka from September 29 to October 6 was 13,915 yuan, which is still more than 10,000 yuan. According to domestic media reports, some airlines revealed that this week's air ticket bookings to Japan are less than last week, and the number of refunds has also increased, and some airlines said that the current changes in air ticket reservations to Japan are not obvious.

Japan's tourism industry has been poured with cold water

Japan's "Tokyo Shimbun" reported on the 28th that in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to Japan was 9.59 million, accounting for 30% of all foreign tourists. Japan appears in the third batch of resumption of outbound group tours announced by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is good news for domestic attractions, airlines and hotels.

Not only do Chinese tourists number one in terms of numbers, but they also spend more on travel than most countries. According to the latest statistics from the Tourism Agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, the per capita travel expenditure of Chinese mainland tourists is 338,200 yen (about 16,831 yuan), ranking second after the United Kingdom (about 358,800 yen). This figure is considerable compared to Asian countries and regions such as Taiwan (about 180,000 yen), the Philippines (about 170,000 yen), and South Korea (about 100,000 yen).

Therefore, when China started group tours to Japan, Japan's tourism and department stores rejoiced. According to estimates by Yayoi Sakamoto, chief economist at Mizuho Research and Technology Company in Japan, if China resumes group tours in August, the Chinese number of tourists visiting Japan for tourism this year will increase by 1.98 million.

Japanese tourism industry workers said excitedly that they had expected the ban to be lifted in October, but they did not expect it to come so quickly. Faced with this huge business opportunity, related companies such as Japan Airlines and hotels have begun to prepare quickly, considering adding flights and training service personnel.

However, the discharge of contaminated water into the sea has poured cold water on Japan's tourism industry, and capital markets are now reacting. Among them, Pan Pacific International Holdings, which owns outlet stores such as don Quijote, fell 6.3%, while Takashimaya Department Store and Matsumoto Kiyoshi each fell more than 5%. In addition, cosmetics companies such as Shiseido in Japan, as well as the retail and catering industries such as the Good Goods Program, have also been affected to varying degrees.

Kazuichi Sakai, chief fund manager of Tokyo Mito Securities, said that this is an important period to receive Chinese tourists, and such changes may have an unpredictable impact on industries related to inbound tourism in Japan, and the Japanese tourism industry needs to pay close attention to the booking situation of Chinese travel agencies.

Yang Jinsong, director of the International Research Institute of China Tourism Research Institute, told the Global Times reporter on the 28th that the public is more and more aware of the harm of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharged into the sea, so Japan is now a high-risk tourist destination in everyone's mind. Some tourists choose to cancel their scheduled trips, while others "go to Japan for the last time" due to reasons such as inability to cancel or cost. Under these circumstances, if the Japanese government does not make major changes such as the shutdown, it will not be able to recover the overseas tourists that are losing, especially Chinese tourists. In the long run, without the support of the Chinese market, the Japanese tourism industry will definitely face a grim situation.

Japanese homestay operators are "too miserable"

The discharge of contaminated water from Japan into the sea has also had a certain impact on European and American tourists to Japan. In the past, some tourism organizations promoted their tourism products to tourists with gourmet food, especially introducing local Japanese seafood. Today, these tourism agencies have also adjusted their plans to put food introduction at the back of the list.

Japan's lodging industry is also experiencing the impact of the discharge of contaminated water into the sea. Located on the seashore about 60 kilometers north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the homestay run by Niida Yasuya is characterized by its use of fresh local fish. In an interview, Niida Yasuya said that guesthouses have begun to cancel reservations, and even guests who stay have directly expressed concerns about local seafood. "Even if the government claims to be safe, social impacts are inevitable. After the earthquake, we have been working hard, and then we encountered the epidemic, and we also struggled to support. I finally got to this day, and I was really worried that I would return to the state after the earthquake, which was too painful. ”

Yukinaga Suzuki, chairman of the Safety Measures Implementation Committee at the Fukushima City Shikaiso Beach, said, "This is a problem that will be faced for decades to come. We want you to follow us. Kenichi Funabe, who runs a surf shop, said he had never been invited to meetings attended by government officials and had no channel for local residents to express their opinions.

TEPCO announced in December last year the compensation standard for the risk of public opinion in the tourism industry, but the specific indicators and details have not been disclosed, and even if the actual impact occurs, it is uncertain whether it will be appropriately compensated. (Global Times special correspondent in Japan, Pan Xiaoduo, Global Times reporter, Ren Xiaonan, Chen Zishuai)