”Did Japan just lose 2 trillion yen?” Chinese tourists spend a whopping...

The Chinese government's call for people to refrain from traveling to Japan has put the tourism industry under a great deal of tension. Inbound spending by Chinese tourists has reached 1.6443 trillion yen, and the number of foreign visitors to Japan has also increased.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun dated the 18th, Chinese tourists spent 1.6443 trillion yen in Japan between January and September this year.
Annual consumption is expected to reach 2 trillion yen, surpassing the previous record of 1.77 trillion yen set in 2019.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Chinese tourists who visited Japan during the same period
The number of visitors was 7.48 million, an increase of more than 40% compared to the same period last year. By country and region, China was the country with the largest number of visitors to Japan.
In the Kansai region, including Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, some reservations are beginning to be canceled.
Given that the region accounts for 30% of inbound tourism consumption, there are ongoing concerns that the impact will be significant. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Chinese tourists are spending more per person and staying at an average accommodation facility than in other regions.
Although the number of nights spent is lower than in other regions such as Europe, it is relatively higher than in East Asian countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, and as of the third quarter of this year (July to September),
He explained that the proportion of people who went shopping and eating out was high. However, at this point, there has been no sign of a full-scale movement to cancel trips. Fujita Kanko, which operates the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, said, "From individual travelers
"There have been no cancellations of hotel reservations yet," Takashimaya and Daimaru Matsuzakaya department stores also said, "We have not seen any noticeable impact, but we are closely monitoring future developments."
The proportion of Chinese customers in duty-free sales will reach 58% and 66%, respectively. The Nikkei Shimbun reported, "Due to the influence of factors such as the shift in travel styles from group travel to individual travel, at this stage,
"Although no clear changes have been seen, there are some signs of it," he said, adding, "If the decline in consumption by Chinese tourists continues for a long period of time, it will inevitably have a negative impact on Japan's domestic economy and service exports."
However, some analysts believe that this trend in consumption growth has been slowed down by the Chinese government's call for its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan.
The remarks have increased tensions between Japan and China, affecting the flow of people between the two countries. If the Chinese government's travel advisory continues for a long period of time, it is expected to have an unavoidable negative impact on the Japanese economy.
Consumption by Chinese tourists in Japan accounts for one-quarter of the total consumption by foreign visitors to Japan (6,915.6 billion yen). In gross domestic product (GDP) statistics, the consumption of Chinese tourists is recorded as service exports.
Inbound consumption from January to September this year was second only to automobiles, and was larger than semiconductors and other electronic parts. Hong Kong authorities have also followed China in calling for caution when traveling to Japan.
It has been confirmed that Chinese passengers spent 402.1 billion yen during the same period. Major Chinese airlines have already announced free cancellations and changes to tickets to Japan, and travel agencies are also offering packages to Japan.
There is a possibility that cancellations of caged goods will continue. There are concerns that the blow to duty-free shops and the hotel industry will be particularly severe. The Imperial Hotel said, "Some events hosted by Chinese companies have been postponed or canceled.
"We are beginning to see examples of this," he said. Chinese guests account for more than 10% of the guests at the Imperial Hotel.