GuShiio.com 
The unfortunate death of well-known entertainer Big S Xu Xiyuan in Japan due to influenza and pneumonia has become the most heartbreaking news during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake. Its medical background is the influenza virus that makes people angry.
From the end of 2024 to the beginning of 2025, this deadly influenza virus has hit the entire territory of Japan. In the last week of 2024 alone (December 23 – 29), 317812 influenza patients broke out, setting the highest weekly record since statistics in 1999.
According to statistics from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan, from September 2024 to January 2025, there were approximately 9.523 million influenza cases in Japan. There are even problems such as drug shortages and tight beds in some medical institutions.
The big S incident has also influenced the decisions of many consumers. Ctrip data showed that within 48 hours of the news announcement, the unsubscription rate of tickets to Japan surged by 178%, and Hokkaido Hot Spring Hotel encountered 80% cancellations of orders. nbsp;
However, such short-term fluctuations have not affected the enthusiasm of China consumers to travel to Japan.
According to Qunar platform data, during the Spring Festival this year, China tourists traveled to more than 2100 overseas cities around the world, an increase of 50% compared with last year. The top 10 countries with the highest increase in air tickets to popular outbound destinations are: Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Iceland, Kenya, Japan, Russia, Spain, Netherlands, and Egypt.
In terms of international air ticket and hotel bookings, popular outbound travel destinations include: Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, China Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the United States, Vietnam, Australia, etc.
Moreover, during this Spring Festival, Japanese tourism also replaced Thailand as the most popular outbound travel destination in the eyes of China consumers.
In today’s international environment where the war has not yet ended and is full of change and turmoil, the rise of Japan’s tourism market also reflects the changing trend of the tourism market in this era.
Soaring passenger flow
After experiencing the trough of the epidemic, Japan’s tourism industry began to recover strongly. In 2024, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan throughout the year will reach 36.87 million, far exceeding the 31.9 million in 2019, setting a record high.
By 2025, this growth momentum will continue to be strong. According to the latest forecast of the JTB Institute of Comprehensive Research, the total number of domestic and foreign tourists in Japan is expected to reach 319.1 million in 2025, an increase of 3% from 2024. Among them, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan is expected to exceed the 40 million mark for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 9%.
In order to attract extensive overseas tourists, the Japanese government has begun to make great efforts to improve the shopping experience.
On the one hand, starting from 2025, the duty-free quota for foreign tourists to purchase consumables will be cancelled, the special packaging regulations for consumables will be abolished, and general items and consumables will no longer be strictly distinguished. This move will not only increase the consumption satisfaction of foreign tourists, but is also expected to reduce the workload of duty-free shops.
On the other hand, work hard on tax exemptions. The Japanese government believes that the 500,000 yen (about 25,000 yuan) duty-free quota for consumables is too low to meet the current demand of foreign tourists for Japan’s high-end consumables. Therefore, it plans to cancel the upper limit on the duty-free quota for consumables so that foreign tourists can shop to their heart’s content in Japan. According to information released by the Japan Tourism Agency, the upper limit on the purchase amount of consumables such as cosmetics, alcohol, food, and medicines in the consumption tax exemption for tourists visiting Japan has been included in the 2025 tax reform requirements to cancel it.
In addition, the Japanese government also plans to disperse tourists, who were originally focused on large cities, to various places.
According to the Japanese government’s previous goal plan for establishing a country in tourism, by 2030, we strive to double the number and consumption of tourists visiting Japan on the current basis, reaching 60 million and 15 trillion yen respectively.
With the exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar once falling below 160 yen in 2024, setting a new low in 37 years, Japan has become a cost-effective tourist destination in the eyes of consumers around the world.
Focus on China consumers
Among all foreign tourists, China tourists make a particularly huge contribution.
In 2024, the number of tourists from China will increase significantly, reaching 6.981 million, a year-on-year increase of 187.9%, becoming Japan’s second largest tourist market.
Ctrip statistics show that among the tourist visas to Japan processed by mainland China tourists through Ctrip, the proportion of multiple visas in 2024 has jumped from 19.75% in 2019 to 48.41%, and the proportion of free travel tourists has increased significantly by 911. Qunar data shows that as of January 3, the platform’s ticket bookings to Japan during the 2025 Spring Festival increased by 2.3 times year-on-year. Popular destinations are Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka, and the top 5 tourist destinations are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen.
To this end, domestic airlines are also scrambling to open routes to Japan, directly increasing the recovery rate of Sino-Japanese flights from 46.7% in 2023 to 75% in 2025, and the new routes cover Sapporo, Fukuoka and other places.
In addition, the demand for vehicle costs in Hokkaido and other places has also surged by 30%-50%, making hotel resources scarce for a time.
Because of this, in recent years, the Japanese government has begun to make great efforts to attract China tourists. In 2025, the Japanese government will introduce a 10-year multiple entry visa and extend the stay period for group tours to 30 days.
Not only that, in order to cater to the habits of China tourists, Japanese merchants have also extensively connected Alipay and Weixin Pay, with coverage exceeding 50%. Scenic spots such as Universal Studios Osaka have realized a mobile tour park, and even localized services such as charging treasure rental have gradually become popular.
On such a good foundation, the return visit rate of China tourists exceeds 40%. Moreover, in order to meet the free travel preferences of young people, travel agencies have turned to developing fragmented products such as themed check-ins that meet individual needs. For example, travel products derived from check-in points at Mount Fuji Internet celebrity Rosen Convenience Store were once out of stock.
Some people panic, and some travel around. Although the influenza epidemic has caused temporary panic, a good policy foundation, high-quality consumption acceptance capabilities, and a relatively stable and safe national image mean that Japan’s tourism market will still be the basis for China tourists to go abroad for a long time.(This article was first published on GuShiio.com Stock Market Smart APP, author| Xie Xuan, Editor| Fang Yu)
