In the weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year period, which begins Sunday, there had been some hope that waves of Chinese tourists ¡ª known for going on ¡°explosive¡± shopping sprees prior to the pandemic ¡ª will return to Japan given Beijing¡¯s eased border restrictions.
However, a number of factors may stand in the way of what would be a timely boost to the hospitality industry ¡ª including expensive flight tickets, a high number of infections still discouraging people to travel overseas and Japan¡¯s tightened border restrictions for travelers from China.
¡°It now costs around ?100,000 ($780) to fly one way from China to Japan, so it¡¯s unlikely anyone other than the very wealthy, or those who have saved considerably, will be looking to come here for now,¡± said aviation and travel expert Kotaro Toriumi. Outbound flights are also running at just 10% of their pre-pandemic levels, he added.
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