Tours to China, booked through Japan's 7 biggest travel agencies, fell by 80.3% year-on-year in February and by 77.2% in March, the Japan Association of Travel Agents said.
Tokyo and Beijing have been embroiled in a bitter sovereignty dispute over a chain of islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkakus in Japanese and the Diaoyus in Chinese.
The Japanese nationalization of some of the islands in September sparked sometimes violent anti-Japan rallies across China.
"Business travel demand is still there but the dispute had a big psychological impact on sightseeing demand," association spokesman Hiroyuki Seishi said.
The drops for February and March show demand for travel to China was not picking up after the drop of 74% in October and declines of nearly 80% in November and December.
Demand has taken a hit from the territorial dispute in past years, Seishi noted.
"The latest flare-up and media reports on the rallies discouraged even more people who do not want to go to unsafe places," he told AFP by telephone.
The heavy air pollution in recent weeks also "worsened the image" of China, he added.-Rappler (February 04, 2013 1:15PM)
No comments:
Post a Comment