Japan is the most appealing destination for Chinese t
ourists but Korea still
has room to increase
Japan ranks as the most appealing destinat
ion for Chinese travelers, based on our tr
avel index analysis; it has the second high
est
number of world heritage sites in Asia, abunda
nt cultural assets, is only a three hour
flight from mainland
China, and has rela
tively
cheap product prices. The first time visitor ratio is still high
at 75% (Exhibits 93 and 94), and we see expect the number of C
hinese
tourists visiting Japan continuing to increase. On the other ha
nd, we think Korea has a relative
advantage over Japan in terms
of: 1)
shorter flight time (less than 2 hours), and
2) more relaxed visa policy compared to Jap
an. The flight time to Korea is half Ja
pan’s,
and there are many cruise lines, making Ko
rea an appealing destination for weekend or
shorter stay vacations. 2) Visa is a more
important driver of travel destination sele
ction; Chinese tourists do
not need a visa to
visit Jeju island (and from this year
will not
need a visa to visit mainland
Korea if they have plans to tran
sit to Jeju after the stay).While
visa relaxation in Japan is ong
oing,
Chinese tourists still face a complex visa
application process, which involves the pr
eparation of several documents and takes a
few
weeks. Japan has many appealing places to
visit but to obtaining a multi entry visa is still very difficult for most of the Chi
nese
citizens.