[Pan Xiaoduo, Special correspondent of Global Times in Japan] Ren Xiaonan, reporter of Global Times, Chen Zishuai] In just over two weeks, the mood of tourism professionals in Japan seems to be riding a roller coaster. On August 10th, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China announced the third batch of list for resuming outbound group tours. On the basis of restoring 60 destination countries and regions in the first two batches, it expanded 78 destinations at one time, and Japan was among them, and it became the most popular destination for National Day travel on major tourism platforms in China. On the 24th, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan started to discharge nuclear polluted water into the sea, which greatly reduced the willingness of Japanese tourists to travel to China, and even led to some tourists leaving the group. Many Japanese tourism enterprises also adjusted their National Day tourism promotion plans one after another.

　　Travel Agency: Some tourists choose to leave the group.

　　A reporter from Global Times asked a travel agency about the business of tour groups to Japan. The other party said that the price of Japanese tour products for five days and six nights during the National Day was about 9000— About 10,000 yuan, the number of people in the group is 16— 30 people. However, due to the negative effects of Japan’s nuclear pollution incident, there is some uncertainty about whether the minimum group number can be reached at that time, so the travel agency currently recommends that individuals travel the most safely.

　　A person in charge of a large travel agency told the Global Times reporter that after Japan started discharging nuclear polluted water into the sea, many tourists expressed concern about it, and some tourists who had signed up for the "Eleventh" Japan team tour chose to quit the group. The person in charge said that for tourists who leave the group, the travel society will refund them in full and without loss, or assist them to replace the tourism products of other destinations.

　　Zhang Wei, general manager of the tourism and holiday business department of Donkey Mama, revealed that due to the general increase in the prices of air tickets, hotels, ground connections, visas and other tourism resources, the price of outbound travel in the "Eleventh" Golden Week this year generally rose by more than 40% to 50% compared with the same period in 2019, and the prices of some popular outbound destination products doubled. For example, during the National Day, the round-trip air tickets from Shanghai to Tokyo and Osaka are between 7000 and mdash; More than 8,000 yuan, more than double the off-season price, which also directly "persuaded" many guests who planned to travel.

　　Global Times reporter found on Ctrip official website on 28th that September 29th — On October 6, the air ticket fare from Beijing to Osaka, Japan was 13,915 yuan, still more than 10,000 yuan. According to domestic media reports, some airlines revealed that the number of air ticket bookings to Japan this week was lower than last week, and the number of refunds also increased. Some airlines also said that the current changes in air ticket bookings to Japan were not obvious.

　　Japan’s tourism industry has been splashed with cold water.

　　Japan’s "Tokyo News" reported on the 28th that in 2019, the number of Japanese tourists visiting China was 9.59 million, accounting for 30% of all foreign tourists. Japan has appeared in the third batch of list for resuming outbound group tours announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, which is good news for domestic attractions, airlines and hotels in Japan.

　　China not only ranks first in the number of tourists, but also spends more on travel than most countries. According to the latest statistics from the Tourism Department of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the per capita travel expenditure of tourists from Chinese mainland is 338,200 yen (about 16,831 yuan), ranking second after the United Kingdom (about 358,800 yen). Compared with Asian countries and regions such as Taiwan, China (about 180,000 yen), the Philippines (about 170,000 yen) and South Korea (about 100,000 yen), this figure is considerable.

　　Therefore, when China started the group tour to Japan, the Japanese tourism and department store industries rejoiced. According to the calculation of Yayoi Sakamoto, chief economist of Mizuho Research and Technology Company in Japan, if China resumes the group tour in August, there will be 1.98 million more tourists visiting Chinese this year.

　　Japanese tourism practitioners said excitedly that it was originally expected that the ban might be lifted in October, but I didn’t expect it to come so soon. Faced with this huge business opportunity, Japan Airlines, hotels and other related enterprises began to make preparations quickly, considering increasing flights and training service personnel.

　　However, the discharge of nuclear pollution water into the sea has poured a pot of cold water on Japanese tourism, and the capital market has also responded at present. Among them, Pan Pacific International Holdings, which owns discount stores such as Don Quixote, fell by 6.3%, while Takashimaya Department Store and Matsumoto Kiyoshi each fell by more than 5%. In addition, cosmetics companies such as Shiseido in Japan, as well as retail and catering industries such as the Good Product Plan, have also been affected to varying degrees.

　　Sakai Ichi, the chief fund manager of Tokyo Mito Securities, said that it is an important time to receive tourists from China. I am afraid that such a change will have an unpredictable impact on Japan’s inbound tourism-related industries, and Japan’s tourism industry needs to pay close attention to the bookings of China travel agencies.

　　Yang Jinsong, director of the china tourism academy Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times reporter on 28th that the public is more and more aware of the danger of Japan’s nuclear polluted water being discharged into the sea, so now Japan has become a high-risk tourist destination in everyone’s mind. Some tourists choose to cancel their scheduled trips, while others "go to Japan for the last time" because they can’t cancel or cost. In this case, if the Japanese government does not make major changes such as stopping the row, it will be unable to recover the lost overseas tourists, especially those from China. In the long run, without the support of China market, the Japanese tourism industry will definitely face a severe situation.

　　Japanese homestay operators are "too painful"

　　Japan’s nuclear pollution discharged into the sea has also had a certain impact on European and American tourists visiting Japan. In the past, some tourist agencies always put food first when promoting tourism products to tourists, especially introducing local seafood in Japan. Nowadays, these tourism agencies have also adjusted their plans and put food introduction in a lower position.

　　Japan’s accommodation industry is also suffering from the huge impact of nuclear pollution water discharged into the sea. The homestay operated by Niida Kangya is located at the seaside about 60km north of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and its biggest feature is to use local fresh fish to make delicacies. Niida Kangya said in an interview that the B&B has started to cancel orders, and even the guests who stayed in directly expressed their concerns about local seafood. Niida Kangya said: "Even if the government claims to be safe, the social impact is inevitable. We have been working hard after the earthquake, and later encountered an epidemic, which was also hard to support. I finally came to today, and I am really worried that I will return to the state after the earthquake. It is too painful. "

　　Yukio Suzuki, Chairman of the Safety Measures Implementation Committee of Boji Beach in Fukushima City, said: "This is a problem that will be faced in the next few decades. We hope that everyone can pay attention to us. " Kenichi Shobe, who runs a surf shop, said that he had never been invited to a meeting attended by government officials, and there was no channel for local residents to express their opinions.

　　Tokyo Electric Power Company announced the compensation standard of public opinion risk in tourism last December, but the specific indicators and details have not been made public. Even if the actual impact occurs, it is still uncertain whether it will be properly compensated.