Chinese tourism remains a big business in Japan. Last year, almost 2.5 million Chinese mainlanders visited their island neighbour, a four-fifths increase from a year earlier. They were the third-largest source of visitors after Taiwan and South Korea.
Better still, they don’t stint on spending. The Japan Tourism Agency estimates that Chinese tourists accounted for a quarter of all tourist spending in Japan last year, shelling out about USD2,000 each during a visit.
Chinese tourists purchased more than JPY60 billion (USD500 million) of goods with China’s UnionPay bank cards during the recent Spring Festival holiday, a 250 percent year-on-year increase, according to data compiled by Japan’s Nikkei Newspaper.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)