Japan Could See Big Financial Hit as Chinese Tourist Numbers Cool
Photo Credit: Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto Skift / Rashaad Jorden
Skift Take
Chinese travelers tend to be big spenders in Japan, so Japanese tourism officials are surely eager for Tokyo and Beijing to find ways to defuse the tensions between the two countries quickly before the industry — and the economy — takes a major hit.
The diplomatic spat between China and Japan was expected to dent visitor numbers to Japan in November. And now the data is in, showing just how significant that impact has been.
About 562,000 Chinese travelers visited Japan last month, down 21.4% from October, according to figures released Wednesday by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). While November's figure was a 3% increase from last year, it marked the slowest growth rate in nearly four years.
By contrast, Chinese arrivals had surged 40.7% during the first 10 months of the year, the JNTO previously reported. China remains Japan’s largest source market, accounting for roughly 22%
