HK loses appeal with Japanese tourists

Hong Kong is no longer in the top-10 favorite travel destinations for Japanese mainly due to high prices and the enduring influence of Japanese and Western media reports on the city's social events since 2019.

But Japanese consul-general Kenichi Okada said the number of Hongkongers visiting Japan has almost returned to the level before the pandemic.

Okada said yesterday that the top-10 destinations of Japanese people for overseas travel for the New Year holiday sees South Korea's Seoul top the list, followed by Taipei and Hawaii's Honolulu.

Bangkok ranks fourth, while Oceania island Guam is fifth. South Korea's Busan, Singapore, the Philippines' Cebu Island, Australia's Cairns and Paris follow closely behind.

Hong Kong was a favorite destinations for Japanese before the pandemic, Okada said.

He added that Hong Kong's worsening impression and the soaring prices - due to the weak yen - might be the main reasons.

"Apart from the expensive commodity prices the news reports by Japan and Western media outlets on the social events from 2019 onward have also worsened Hong Kong's impression among Japanese people," Okada said.

"The consulate-general of Japan, the Japanese External Trade Organization and the Japanese National Tourism Organization will continue to work hard to promote relations between Japan and Hong Kong."

Japanese National Tourism Organization chairman Eigo Onuma said Hong Kong's prices are really unaffordable to Japanese people.

"Hong Kong's accommodation cost is really too high," he added.

"Even Japanese officials cannot afford Hong Kong's accommodation with the allowance given by the government."

Yet Japan remains a popular destination among Hongkongers.

A survey by travel booking platform Klook showed that Japan tops the list among Hongkongers' next travel destination.

It is followed by Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.

An online survey by the Japanese National Tourism Organization also showed that 26 percent - or 512 among 6,133 respondents of a survey - have traveled to Japan more than three times after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

This also expanded the difference between the number of Hong Kong travelers visiting Japan and Japanese travelers visiting Hong Kong.

The figures showed there were over 1.66 million Hongkongers visiting Japan between January and October this year.

But in the same period only something over 250,000 Japanese visited Hong Kong.

Comparing the figures with those in 2019 there were nearly 2.3 million Hongkongers visiting Japan, with around 660,000 Japanese people visiting Hong Kong in the same year.

Official figures also show the number of SAR travelers visiting Japan has nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 180,000 people visiting Japan in October, or just around 0.7 percent less than in the same month in 2019.

Travel spending among Hong Kong travelers in Japan also increased compared to figures in 2019, with the average spending per Hong Kong traveler at 154,000 yen (HK$8,380) in 2019 to 225,000 yen between July and September this year.

"The three main reasons behind this might be due to the weak yen, Hongkongers choosing to stay for longer in Japan, as well as revenge spending after the pandemic," Okada said.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com