Chinese tourism to Japan has sharply declined in recent weeks, pushing China down to the position of Japan’s second-largest tourist market amid escalating diplomatic tensions.
According to Chinese aviation tracker DAST, more than a dozen flight routes between the two countries have been cancelled, signalling a rapid deterioration in travel demand.
The downturn follows remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who told parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on self-ruled Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Beijing reacted strongly, issuing a public advisory urging its citizens to avoid travel to Japan and submitting a formal letter of protest to the United Nations outlining its objections.
The dispute is already weighing heavily on Japan’s tourism sector, which had only recently recovered from the COVID-19 slump. Mainland China had been Japan’s largest source of tourists from 2015 until the pandemic froze global travel.
Although arrivals rebounded over the past year, with China even surpassing South Korea last month as Japan’s top tourist market, the latest diplomatic rift threatens to reverse those gains.
Economic ties between the two neighbours remain substantial. China is Japan’s second-largest export destination after the United States, purchasing roughly $125 billion in goods in 2024, including industrial machinery, semiconductors and automobiles, according to UN COMTRADE data.
But analysts warn that Beijing may continue applying economic pressure. Stephen Nagy, a politics professor at International Christian University, told Reuters that China is likely to target “different pressure points” of Japan’s economy.
Market researcher China Trading Desk estimates that Japan could lose up to $1.2 billion in tourism spending by the end of the year if the decline persists.
The timing could prove particularly damaging, with the Lunar New Year, traditionally a peak travel season for Chinese tourists, fast approaching.
The wave of route cancellations and travel warnings now threatens to dampen what is usually one of Japan’s most lucrative tourism periods.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
