By LI Rujia
Japan began releasing the first batch of more than a million tons of nuclear-contaminated water from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on August 24. Since then, Japan has fallen from the most-searched travel destination in China to an undesirable land of radioactive fear.
Sea change in travel plans
On August 10, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China announced the resumption of outbound group tours to Japan, which quickly became the most popular destination, surpassing Thailand and Singapore.
Bookings for group tours nearly doubled in a month, and bookings for group tours during the National Day holiday were off the scale.
Two weeks later, the discharge began, and enthusiasm for a pleasant holiday trip to look at the leaves vanished. A survey from Hong Kong showed more than half of travelers have changed their minds.
Although there hasn't been any change in the number of flights to Japan, ticket sales have been significantly affected. Prices for flights between China and Japan have fallen. Roundtrip tickets from Beijing to Osaka were selling for 8,300 yuan two weeks ago and have reportedly dropped to 5,900 yuan.
Serious money
China used to be Japan's largest source of tourists. In 2019, of the 32 million foreign tourists visiting Japan, around 10 million originated in the Chinese mainland. Spending by foreign visitors hit 4.8 trillion Japanese yen, with mainland Chinese tourists splashing out 1.8 trillion yen.
Local tour operators in Japan told Jiemian News that the discharge began immediately after China resumed group tours. There have been many reports of group tour cancellations, though independent travel has not been significantly affected.
Even before the resumption of group tours, Japan was a popular overseas destination, second after Thailand among the destinations for mainland Chinese tourists in the first half of the year.
Oceans apart
Japan is a major destination for cruise ships departing from China. Several cruise companies, including MSC Mediterranean, Royal Caribbean, Costa Cruises, and Viking Cruises, offer routes to Japan.
Costa Cruises said that the current situation hasn't affected their cruise route bookings. The company's planned destinations in Japan are in Kyushu, far from the affected areas.
MSC Mediterranean, on the other hand, said that it is closely monitoring the situation. As of now, the company has not received any official guidance suggesting changes to the originally planned port and route arrangements for cruise ships. Therefore, there have been no adjustments to their 2024 cruise itineraries departing from Chinese homeports, and sales are proceeding as usual.
