Chinese tour groups halt Japan trips as official warnings bite, arrivals crash 56 percent

Chinese tour groups have stopped travelling to Japan after official travel warnings prompted agencies to suspend organised trips, driving an eighth straight month of declining mainland arrivals in July, new data shows.

Mainland visitor numbers crashed 56.1 per cent year on year last month, extending a slump that began in December 2024, the Japan National Tourism Organisation reported Wednesday. For the first seven months of 2025, Chinese arrivals plummeted 56.3 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Group tours vanish as warnings bite

The collapse of organised group travel is the primary cause of the decline, according to Li Hanming, an independent aviation and travel industry analyst. "Group tours face a major hurdle because travel agencies are refraining from organising group trips when official travel warnings are in place," Li said.

The shift is visible at tourist sites, according to Shanghai-based social media manager Jocean Zhou, who travels frequently to Japan. "In the past, you would see crowds of Chinese tour groups outside major tourist spots. Now, it's almost entirely individual travellers," Zhou said.

Rising visa costs have compounded the deterioration in diplomatic ties between Beijing and Tokyo, contributing to the sustained downturn.

Japan tourism rebounds elsewhere

While Chinese arrivals continue to tumble, overall foreign visitor numbers to Japan edged up 0.1 per cent in July – the first monthly increase in four months. Strong demand from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Middle East supported the modest recovery.

Mainland China has traditionally been one of Japan's largest sources of tourists, making the sustained drop significant for the country's travel industry. Total foreign arrivals to Japan fell 1.7 per cent for the January-to-July period.

Source: South China Morning Post