BEIJING, Oct 11: Notwithstanding strain in ties with Japan, about four lakh Chinese tourists visited that country and spent about USD 830 million in shopping during the National Day holiday week.
Popularly known as the Golden Week, the holiday week from October 1-7 marks a peak in travel for Chinese tourists.
Chinese customers queued up at Japanese malls to buy goods like facial masks and medical drugs. Many stores even had to put a limit on the quantity that each customer could purchase, fearing they would run out of stocks.
The spending spree by Chinese tourists have boosted the Japanese economy by around 0.1 per cent, a 20-year high, state run China Daily quoted Global Blue, an international company that handles tax refunds for international shoppers.
The more popular goods that Chinese tourists scramble for included toilet seats, medical drugs, and household items like thermoses, shavers and luxury goods.
Medical tourism in Japan has also become a new growth sector.
Data from the Nationwide Tourist Group Services Management System shows that outbound tourists (except those heading to Hong Kong) grew by 36.6 per cent year-on-year in the first four days of the week-long holiday.
Chinese online travel platform CTrip said Japan was the most popular overseas travel destination for Chinese mainland vacationers during the holiday, followed by Thailand and South Korea.
Hong Kong came in fourth place, followed by Macao.
Compared to last year, the number of Chinese tourists going to Japan during the period doubled, according to NTA.
This despite steady decline in China-Japan relations in recent years over the disputed islands as well as Beijing accusations of massacre of millions of Chinese by Japanese army during WW-II.
Japan’s popularity among Chinese travellers was obvious within the first six months of this year when some 2.18 million Chinese tourists went to Japan, double from the year before.
Cultural affinities, devaluation of the yen and the quality of Japanese goods have been listed as the top attractions for Chinese tourists, the Daily said.
The National Day holiday has become an annual tourism event for Chinese people.
The influx of Chinese visitors has been a welcome shot for host economies.
Retailers in Japan, South Korea and France are becoming more accommodating to Chinese shoppers by introducing Chinese-speaking shopping assistants and welcome signs written in Chinese. (PTI)
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