Japan sees Korea, Taiwan tourists making up for drop in China traffic

Hotels and retailers expect different mix of customers this Lunar New Year

Tourists from abroad can be seen among visitors at the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, on Feb. 6. (Photo by Hajime Tsukada)

Nikkei staff writers

February 9, 2024 09:33 JST

TOKYO/OSAKA/SAPPORO, Japan -- Chinese visitors to Japan for the Lunar New Year holidays that begin Saturday are expected to remain at half pre-pandemic levels, though travelers from the rest of Asia look set to fill the gap.

As of Jan. 31, bookings for All Nippon Airways flights between Japan and China from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28 were at about 40% of where they were in February 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.