China's outbound group travel ban a blow to Japan's retail, tourism sectors

It is unfortunate that Japanese businesses will suffer. But, hey, it's better than having possibly thousands of sick or dead people. The smart thing to do, going forward, is to court more visitors from other countries, especially those in the region, so as to not rely mainly on Chinese tourists for revenue. Just saying.

Some years ago I stated Japan needs to focus more on rebuilding its economy domestically instead of relying on foreign investment and tourism. This travel ban will drastic effects in so many regions of Japan because they cannot survive without the Chinese tourists. This outbreak will no doubt also effect the Olympic visitors as well.

It will not only affect the Japanese economy, it will be hurting the chinese economy too as people are forced to stay indoors and cant travel or enjoy the holiday season. Will hurt the USA in turn too maybe long term as consumption and imports drop.

Sure hope this does not become a huge global epidemic of biblical proportions though , I have a feeling it was left too late though as first cases were discovered in Dec and the chinese govt didnt little about it then.

Same thing happening in Thailand where tourism is a significant contributor to GDP, with China cancelling group tours.

The world simply cannot live without Chinese money and products.

The ban will solve the over-tourism (over crowding) issue that Japan has been complaining of in recent years but when it does stop, lots of whining that you see now. Compounding this is the drop by 50% the number of South Koreans who are banning Japan as a destination due to a trade war since October.

oldman_13 - The world simply cannot live without Chinese money and products.

Never a truer word spoken! However, it doesn’t stop people complaining about the Chinese while using their Chinese made commodities and wearing their Chinese made clothing.

This outbreak is only in its infancy. It is going to have massive effects on the world economy. Let’s not focus on Japan’s woes.

-- Some years ago I stated Japan needs to focus more on rebuilding its economy domestically instead of relying on foreign investment and tourism.

Indeed. One of the primary reasons I could not be paid to vote for the LDP. I don't want to see my country turned into a theme park. Pushing tourism, especially casinos, while failing to invest in areas that will create value added jobs in the future is criminally stupid.

Japan should be heavily promoting to attract safe, rich neighboring nations much more. Taiwan, Singapore, HK and Malaysia spring to mind , as well as the rich elite from India, Thailand and Vietnam etc.

Too much reliance on the whims of the Communist leaders in China ends up in the situation we have now.

"We may see an impact on our sales as 80 percent of visiting foreign customers at our flagship Hankyu department store in Osaka are Chinese,"

Oh poor you! Boohoo, cannot get your profit that is more worth than a few lives. Thats why I said before, don't rely on tourism for profit because once that peak drops a LOT of businesses will suffer.

The people are work hard making their country the number one global manufacturer. They were looking forward to their little shopping vacation in Japan. Too bad not this season.

Most complaints about China are about the CCP and not the people who might be a little loud but, from my experience of interacting with them in Japan, are good people trying to better their lives like we all are.

"Some years ago I stated Japan needs to focus more on rebuilding its economy domestically instead of relying on foreign investment and tourism".

Are you for real?

"According to the 2019 UNCTAD World Investment Report, FDI flows to Japan remain low compared to most other developed nations across the world."

https://santandertrade.com/en/portal/establish-overseas/japan/foreign-investment

"In 2018, contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP) for Japan was 7.4 %. Though Japan contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP) fluctuated substantially in recent years, it tended to decrease through 1999 - 2018 period ending at 7.4 % in 2018."

https://knoema.com/atlas/Japan/topics/Tourism/Travel-and-Tourism-Total-Contribution-to-GDP/Contribution-of-travel-and-tourism-to-GDP-percent-of-GDP

The impact will be due to cancellations and its inherent inconveniences. Any business will "suffer" if a customer cancels at the very last minute.

Not a big fan of China but good for them to make the call

Those shop keepers and department stores have only themselves to blame. Inbound tourism is often subject to factors beyond our control; wars, terrorism, natural disasters and pandemic. Businesses should have made more effort to increase domestic demand.

Gaijin "expertise" oh but Japan is so dependent on tourism, the economy will sink if the Chinese stop coming.

Reality check: tourism amounts to 7.4% of Japan's GDP, latest available figures.

Japan will survive.

Fact.

The next couple of months could go sideways real quick, and hotel and chain stores will be the least of our concerns. Big challenge for China. Political rivalries and differences aside, let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a bad movie scene. A whole city with the population size of London on total lockdown. Just woh. The world watches nervously.

The world simply cannot live without Chinese money and products.

Wasn't that long ago they couldn't leave the country without a permit, and the rest of the world managed just fine, as it will do now. With fewer selfie sticks being prodded in your face and oversized, excessive amounts of luggage on trains, now might be a good window to visit Kyoto again.

The outward travel ban is a good thing. This is good news.

Reality check: tourism amounts to 7.4% of Japan's GDP, latest available figures.

The article said would lop 0.1 percent off Japan's gross domestic product at most.

But you are correct, Japan will do fine. Tourism is not a driver of GDP growth.

Not only that but think of companies such Unicharm and Japanese drug makers. They will be making big sales

What a messed up system, wanting to be healthy and not mindlessly consuming is "a blow".

I’m looking forward to visiting Kyoto for a bit of sightseeing without the hordes of tourists!

We may see an impact on our sales as 80 percent of visiting foreign customers at our flagship Hankyu department store in Osaka are Chinese," said an official at operator H2O Retailing Corp, in reference to the group travel ban imposed Monday.

Not 80% of foreign customers, 80% of customers period. I heard this past weekend places like Dotombori, Diamaru and Namba were dead.

money or life? hmm tough choice for some business owners. However no worries, China extended the holiday so they might still make that yen anyway. I know I'm not going out much and limited my time to internet orders for everything. Not risking my own life at any cost. Been there done that enough times and the bill is paid in full.

01.25.2018 10:22 AM: Closer to Midnight: The Doomsday Clock and the Threat of Nuclear War, but please do not misinterpret to economy loss for the above article or current coronavirus issue. All developed countries are working solutions for once instead of fighting each other.

Stock up on Face Masks.

Make all domestically produced products tax-free for everyone, not just tourists (duty free items). Then Japanese will spend more on domestically produced items, including food, and there will be less reliance on tourism. (Food should never be taxed anyway.)

I may have to cancel my planned trip to Japan this year as well. It's a scary experience to fall ill while abroad.

One day in the near future, the Chinese tourists will quit coming to Japan and it will settle down to normal flows. Japanese businesses dependent on Chinese tourists better realize this is just a temporary bubble and best plan accordingly. I would not want anyone getting too hurt when the music stops.

Better than risking everyone getting sick. This whole virus thing is going to get much much worse before it gets better.

China's outbound group travel ban a blow to Japan's retail, tourism sectors

What? What kind of upside-down world view is that? Seems to me the Chinese government is acting more responsibly than the Japanese one here. Seeing that a potential pandemic is rampant in China, it is the JAPANESE goverment that should ban all inbound travel from China, not the other way round.

Given the amount of time it took China to get a handle on SARS, I fear that Japan tourism -- including for the Olympics -- is in big trouble.