With more South Koreans boycotting Japanese products over Tokyo's export curbs,... local consumers are now turning their backs on trips to Japan.
It has reached the point where Japanese media outlets are admitting the sharp decrease in visitors from South Korea is becoming a serious cause of concern.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Looking at the number of people who traveled to Japan in the first half of 2019,... the number of Chinese visitors was up more than 11-percent on-year.
Contrast that with the number of South Korean visitors dropping 3-point-8 percent,... the first on-year decline in five years.
With the trade row raging between Seoul and Tokyo,... Japanese media outlets are starting to report that South Koreans who were considering traveling to Japan are now seeking out other vacation spots.
They also reported that several travel sites in South Korea have even opted to remove Japan from their travel packages altogether.
The Japanese daily Sankei Simbun says the decrease in the number of South Koreans visiting Japan is inevitable given the current circumstances.
It added it might be hard for Japan to reach its goal of 40 million foreign visitors next year,... and that's despite the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being held in its capital.
Travel agencies in Japan report that the cancellation of reservations made in South Korea have soared since the start of July.
The number of South Korean visitors who travelled to Japan this summer is also sharply lower than last summer.
The boycott is especially bad news for Japan's tourism industry as South Koreans made up almost a quarter of the foreign tourists who visited Japan last year.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
