China is once again leveraging the strength of its outbound tourism market for political pressure.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has ordered travel agencies to cut group tours to Japan by around 40%, according to media reports.
This is apparently China’s response to Japan’s latest commentary on the Taiwan issue.
Japan media reports inbound group tours to Japan are being progressively reduced on the orders of Beijing.
It doesn’t impact independent travellers taking trips to Japan.
According to one Japan economist, a complete ban on travel from China to Japan would cost about 1.8 trillion yen.
The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau confirmed there have been many Chinese group cancellations but independent travel remains unaffected.
