Hotels, stores in Japan suffer amid cancellations by Chinese tourists

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Many Japanese tourism businesses are concerned that the situation could drag on as the Lunar New Year holiday in February approaches.

PHOTO: THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

TOKYO – The Chinese government’s advisory against traveling to Japan has severely blunted the growth in Chinese visitors to the nation, hurting sales at Japanese department stores and causing a flood of cancellations at hotels in tourist areas.

Many tourism businesses are concerned that the situation could drag on as the Lunar New Year holiday in February approaches.

“Many Chinese people have canceled their bookings,” the operator of a hotel in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, said on Dec 17. “We’ve lowered our accommodation rates for the first time in a while.” The operator said room rates had been cut by about 10 per cent from December, 2024.

Hotel rates in Kyoto had been steadily creeping upward since 2024, as the city experienced a rebound in tourism demand after the Covid-19 pandemic and capitalised on the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. However, demand from Chinese visitors has plunged lately, forcing the hotel in Kyoto to cut its rates.

“If this situation continues until the Lunar New Year, the impact will become even more severe,” the hotel operator told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Visitors from mainland China and Hong Kong together accounted for 28 per cent of all tourists to Japan from January to November in 2025.

During this period, the number of Chinese tourists coming to Japan surged by 37.5 per cent from the same period in 2024. However, that growth fell to just 3 per cent