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Kyoto report says mainland Chinese visitor numbers have fallen
The Kyoto City Tourism Association’s report attributes residents’ blame of Chinese travelers to media-driven assumptions, while noting Beijing has pressured citizens to holiday elsewhere amid China Japan tensions.
A report released earlier this month by the Kyoto City Tourism Association’s destination management organisation argues that Chinese tourists are being unfairly blamed for Kyoto’s overtourism crisis, even as mainland visitor numbers have fallen sharply amid worsening ties between China and Japan, according to SCMP Economy.
The report says many residents assumed crowded public transport, congestion at popular sights, and rising hotel prices were driven by mainland Chinese tour groups, but it says relatively few Chinese visitors have traveled to Kyoto in the past couple of years.
It adds that Beijing pressured citizens to holiday elsewhere amid rising geopolitical tensions, while analysts cited near daily media coverage about China as a factor that amplified residents’ assumptions and contributed to hostility.
SCMP Economy also notes that the backdrop includes recent Japanese media reports of Chinese vessels conducting maritime research in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the arrest in China of two Japanese nationals suspected of smuggling restricted rare earth products, and the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a Chinese submarine into the South Pacific.