Growing anti-Japanese sentiment in China has resulted in an increase in the number of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan, according to local travel agencies.
"The number of inbound Japanese tourists increased after riots broke out in China last week," said Walter Chen (陳威德), general manager of STC Travel Service (世帝喜旅行社), a joint venture formed last year by Taiwan's South East Travel Service Co (東南旅行社) and Japan's biggest travel agency, JAL Travel Co (also known as JTV).
JTV has received over 1,000 cancelations over the past few days, with more than 400 Japanese deciding to visit Taiwan rather than China, Chen said.
According to a survey conducted by Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun daily, the JTB Tourist Agency saw 240 tour cancelations between April 11 and April 14, while All Nippon Airways, which offers 118 flights to nine Chinese cities a week, saw 1,300 cancelations from April 1 to April 16, the Central News Agency reported on Sunday.
Although Japanese tourists who are put off by the ongoing demonstrations in China will also turn to other Asian destinations, Taiwan would be the biggest beneficiary due to its favorable location, he added.
In addition, Japan's "Golden Week," which falls between April 29 and May 8 this year, is expected to bring in booming tourism for local travel agencies.
While the protests in several Chinese cities could have an impact on visitors from Japan for a while, the tourism veteran said that the local industry will have to prepare for the influx of tourists.
"Although it sounds promising, we have to see whether there are enough plane tickets and hotel rooms to accommodate the surging number of Japanese tourists," Chen said.
According to statistics provided by the Tourism Bureau, Japanese tourists account for more than one-third of the nation's total inbound travelers.
In March, more than 103,000 Japanese visited the nation, a 55 percent jump from a year ago, thanks to travel promotions, according to the bureau.
About 2.95 million foreign tourists visited Taiwan last year, an increase of 31.24 percent from a year ago. Among them, about 887,311 tourists were from Japan, down 11.14 percent from the previous year, according to Tourism Bureau data.
To boost the nation's tourism sector, the Cabinet launched a six-year project in 2002, aiming to double the number of foreign tourists visiting the country to 5 million by 2008.
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