TOKYO REPORT: S. Korean tourists to Japan keep decreasing

January 21, 2020

Tokyo, Jan. 20 (Jiji Press)--The number of tourists visiting Japan from South Korea continues to decline amid soured relations between the two countries, dealing a serious blow to destinations popular with such visitors.

The number contracted year on year for six consecutive months from July 2019, when Japan imposed tougher rules on exports to South Korea, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

"South Korean visitors have decreased 80 pct to 90 pct from a year before," lamented a man operating an inn in Oita Prefecture in Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan's main islands.

Railway operator Tokyu Corp. <9005> said the decreasing number of South Korean tourists is impacting its hotel business especially in Kyushu, which had enjoyed high occupancy rates and strong earnings thanks to them before last July.

The number of South Korean tourists then dropped 7.6 pct in the month, and the pace of decrease accelerated to 65.5 pct in October and 65.1 pct in November.

In December, it fell an estimated 63.6 pct, the JNTO's latest data showed.

In 2019, the total number of South Korean tourists to Japan shrank 25.9 pct from the previous year to 5,584,600, marking the first drop since 2011, when Japan suffered a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

The decrease stands out, as the total number of foreign tourists grew 2.2 pct to a record high of 31,882,100 in 2019.

While many South Koreans have come to think twice about trips to Japan due to the frayed bilateral relationship, weakened demand for travel to Japan has forced low-cost carriers to reduce operations between the two countries.

LCCs offer low airfares by minimizing operating costs and maximizing the number of passengers on each flight. As local airports in Japan cut landing fees to attract airlines, South Korean LCCs increased flights to them.

But the business model of budget airlines does not work if the number of passengers decreases. A passenger load factor of 80 pct is the break-even point of LCCs, according to industry officials.

The plunge in the number of tourists to Japan from South Korea has thus prompted South Korean LCCs to cancel or cut back on flights, discouraging even tourists willing to visit Japan despite the two countries' soured relationship.

South Korean airlines' winter operation schedule from late October includes 692 flights between the two countries per week, a decrease of about 500 from the summer schedule that started in late March. Of the steep flight reduction, LCCs account for an overwhelming 444.

Oita Airport can no longer claim to be an international airport because South Korean budget airlines have stopped flying to it. South Korean LCCs have also canceled or reduced flights to local airports, especially in Kyushu.

Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Hiroshi Tabata said the organization will "continue close cooperation with travel agencies in South Korea" to revive the popularity of tours to Japan among South Koreans.

The annual number of foreign tourists to Japan topped 30 million for the first time in 2018, but the pace of growth slowed in 2019.

While the Japanese government aims to attract 40 million tourists from abroad this year, the target appears difficult to attain without an increase in arrivals from South Korea, which has been the second-largest source of tourists to Japan.

The government aims to attract more tourists from countries and regions other than China, South Korea and Taiwan. But a serious pickup in inbound tourism will require an improvement in ties between Japan and South Korea. Jiji Press