With a place at the top of many “Best Places to Travel” lists, Japan is on track to welcome a record number of travelers in 2024.
But China faces a different reality: a much slower return of international visitors.
Both countries were relatively slow to drop Covid-related border restrictions — Japan in October 2022 and China in January 2023 — but their post-pandemic recovery trajectories have since diverged.
Demand is growing for both countries
Demand to visit China is growing, according to the National Immigration Administration, which reported a 130 percent increase in foreign visitors from January to July.
Summer travel is also up, with inbound bookings doubling from last summer, a spokesperson for travel website Trip.com told CNBC Travel.
However, arrivals are still well below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, China welcomed about 49.1 million travelers — as of July this year, about 17.25 million foreigners had arrivedaccording to Chinese state media.
Japan, for its part, is also struggling — but under the weight of its own popularity.
More than 3 million international travelers have visited each month since March — well above 2019 levels.
Beyond the cultural fascination with Japan, the country’s current situation is partly a product of initiatives taken by the Japanese government, said Joydeep Chakraborty, Southeast Asia head of strategy and investment at travel app Traveloka.
“The government has long focused on making Japan a top travel destination through pro-tourism efforts such as enhancing travel experiences and simplifying the travel process for international visitors,” he said.
Those efforts were then accelerated by the yen’s devaluation, he said.
“The USD/JPY exchange rate [moved] from around 140 in January 2024 to over 160 in July 2024, making Japan more affordable,” said Chakraborty.
Crowds of people fill the corridors of Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, Japan, on November 11, 2023.
Jasmine Leung | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Now Japan’s “hyper-tourism” is making headlines again, as crowds fill Kyoto’s famed temples and jockey for space during peak cherry blossom season.
The country’s labor market — one of the tightest in the advanced world before the pandemic hit — is trying to keep up. This year, 85% of travel and hospitality companies cut operating hours due to labor shortages, according to the Japan Federation of Service and Tourism Workers’ Unions.
Because the interest in visiting China is reduced
Flight capacity to China is still below pre-pandemic levels from many countries, notably the United States (-77%), according to airline analyst firm Cirium.
But geopolitical tensions are also gaining weight, according to the political network East Asia Forum.
“The Chinese government’s tighter control of social regulations could potentially cause discomfort for foreign travelers to China,” says an article on its website titled “Visa-free policies alone will not revive China’s inbound tourism.”
China’s expansion of its visa-free policies is stimulating demand to visit. About 58% of travelers arriving in the first half of 2024 came from countries with such arrangements, according to the National Immigration Administration.
However, a Pew Research Center report shows that among 35 countries surveyed, more than half have unfavorable views of China. According to the July report, some of the world’s top travelers — such as those from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and France — hold largely negative views of China.
Favorable views of China in the report are highest in sub-Saharan Africa as well as Asia, although opinions are divided on the latter.
“Views tend to be among the most and less positive in the Asia-Pacific region — more positive in middle-income countries such as Malaysia and Thailand and more negative in high-income countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea,” the report said.
Difficulty moving
Problems navigating China may keep some at home.
Since the pandemic, China has pushed more online payment and booking systems, causing headaches for foreign travelers unfamiliar with the popular Chinese software.
Addressing these issues is imperative to attracting foreign travelers back, writes Songshan Huang, a professor at Australia’s Edith Cowan University. East Asia Forum.
“Booking high-speed train tickets or entrance tickets to popular tourist attractions requires the use of WeChat’s built-in program,” he wrote. “Many shops only accept WeChat Pay or AliPay, leaving foreign tourists in a difficult position if they rely solely on cash or credit cards.”