Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sparked a fierce diplomatic dispute in November when she said Japan might respond if a crisis struck Taiwan. Her remarks quickly angered China. Now, the tourism industry is paying a heavy price. Travel agents say the number of Japanese visitors to China has dropped sharply. Chinese tourists are also staying away from Japan. The tension broke a long-standing bridge that usually connects the two countries, even during difficult political times.
Travel agencies face a disaster they describe as a triple punch. First, diplomatic tensions scared tourists away from making plans. Second, airlines cut back significantly on the number of flights available. Third, conflicts in the Middle East forced airlines to add expensive fuel surcharges to their tickets. One travel agency official reported that Japanese travel to China had crashed by 90 percent. Customers rapidly canceled their bookings, and airlines reduced their schedules, leaving very few seats available for anyone who still wants to fly.
The trouble started right after Takaichi spoke in parliament last November. She suggested that Japan could support the United States if someone attacks Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing claims as its own land. Following her comments, China rolled out new trade restrictions. The Chinese government also urged its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan. Chinese airlines quickly reacted by scrapping many scheduled flights to Japanese cities. Just last year, Chinese travel to Japan had bounced back to about half of its 2019 numbers, but the new dispute ruined that recovery.
Tour operators in major Chinese cities see the damage firsthand. An official at a Shanghai travel agency who organizes trips for Japanese visitors shared terrible news. Since November, customers have canceled half of all Japanese group tours to Shanghai. The official believes tourists simply worry about their safety abroad. Sometimes, groups had to cancel their entire vacation simply because airlines suddenly canceled their flights with little warning.
The lack of flights deeply hurts local workers who depend on tourism to feed their families. In Shaanxi Province, famous for the ancient Terracotta Army, airlines canceled all direct flights from Japan. Tour guides who speak Japanese now face severe income losses and fear losing their jobs completely. One 57-year-old Chinese man, who has worked as a Japanese-language guide for about thirty years, shared his frustration. He said he has not led a single Japanese tourist on a tour this entire year. He also mentioned that a group of Japanese high school students canceled their planned April trip.
Workers in the capital face the same struggle. Another tour guide in Beijing said he has seen almost zero Japanese tourists since March. Because nobody is booking tours, his income has crashed by 90 percent. Guides like him feel helpless as they watch their livelihood disappear over a political fight they cannot control.
Experts worry the travel industry will suffer permanent damage. Many Japanese-speaking guides have already quit their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the new political friction dries up the little demand that remained. The Beijing guide warned that new Japanese-speaking guides cannot get proper training without real tourists to lead. He believes travel agencies will have a very hard time arranging group tours with local guides in the future if this trend continues.
Japanese tourists used to be among the largest groups of visitors to China. They explored historical sites and spent money in local shops. Now, the connection feels completely broken. A representative from a major Japanese travel agency made a blunt prediction. He stated that the package tour business will stay dead until Japan and China improve their relationship and airlines put more airplanes back in the sky.
