Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" reported on April 6 that it is the cherry blossom season again, and there are many Chinese tourists who went to Japan to enjoy cherry blossoms last year, which set a record high. In the face of the high enthusiasm of Chinese tourists for cherry blossom viewing, the Japanese side is looking for business opportunities.
Tokyo's Ueno Park, a famous cherry blossom resort, is full of bustling flower-viewing tourists, including many Chinese tourists.
Many Chinese travel agencies advertise "Cherry Blossoms – 6 Days and 5 Nights Tour of Tokyo, Hakone, Kamakura, Osaka" and "Kyushu Cherry Blossom Resort Tour" online, and attach a large number of photos of cherry blossoms blooming all over Japan.
The person in charge of Ctrip.com introduced: "Times are different, and now through the Internet and WeChat, we can do meticulous publicity, Chinese travel abroad hoping to integrate into local life and culture, and Japan's cherry blossom viewing tour is very popular."
It is reported that on Ctrip's website, due to japan's proximity and cheap air tickets compared with other countries, coupled with the charm of cherry blossoms, the spring tourists to Japan are full. It is estimated that the number of cherry blossom viewing Chinese in Japan from March 15 to April 15 last year was about 350,000, and it is expected to increase by five times this year.
According to the Japan Government Tourism Bureau, about 19.73 million foreign tourists visited Japan last year, a record high. The largest number of them is Chinese tourists, with 4.99 million people. In April alone, the number of tourists doubled the previous year, reaching about 400,000.
Seize business opportunities, increase Chinese translations
In the face of the ongoing enthusiasm of Chinese after the Spring Festival, the Japanese side is also exploring new services to attract the attention of flower-viewing tourists.
The Matsusakaya Ueno shop near Ueno Park added Chinese translation during the cherry blossom viewing season, and according to publicity officials, "There are more Chinese tourists in the Ueno shop during the cherry blossom viewing season than during the Spring Festival."
JTB Travel Agency, which specializes in visiting Japan, has added Chinese guides to the cherry blossom viewing tour this year. As a cherry blossom viewing spot, it has always been dominated by English-speaking guides. But in recent years, Chinese tourists have gained more and more attention, so it was decided to add Chinese tour guides.
Trend Express, a japanese company owned by Hottolink, surveyed the cherry blossom viewing of Chinese tourists by analyzing content on social networking sites such as Twitter. Searching for keywords such as "Japan", "cherry blossoms" and "cherry blossom viewing" on Weibo, there were 3,892 search results in February 2014, and this year it soared to 18,983 in February this year.
According to Trend Express, "Cherry blossom viewing is very popular, which shows that there are many repeat customers, and it also symbolizes the diversification of travel purposes." He also proposed that "in order to allow Chinese to take photos of themselves in the background of Japanese cherry blossoms and then upload them to social networking sites to achieve publicity, they should increase the promotion of cherry blossom viewing spots suitable for photography." (Internship Editor: Ying Dian Reviewer: Ma Li)
Editor-in-Charge: YingDian Ma Li
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