With many people unable to go out of the territory for nearly three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Japan could benefit from Hong Kongers’ “revenge travel.”
“I want to eat Japanese sea urchin, so I will go straight to Kuromon Ichiba market in Osaka to have seafood as soon as I get to Japan,” said a traveller surnamed Man who was at the Hong Kong International Airport on Oct 11 to fly to Osaka for her first overseas trip in three years. She planned to spend 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$1,275) in her six-day trip.
Only 5,900 Hong Kongers visited Japan in the first eight months of this year, down 99.6% from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. But more than 10,000 Hong Kongers appear to have visited Japan in just one week starting from Oct 11, according to industry estimates.
Trips to Japan, which at one point nearly disappeared, have recovered thanks to changes in policies by the governments of Japan and Hong Kong. The Japanese government abolished its daily arrival cap and started accepting individual travellers again, while the Hong Kong government also eased its entry restrictions.
Previously, Hong Kong required inbound travelers to quarantine at designated hotels for up to 21 days, but the measure was scrapped in late September. Now the government has introduced a measure called “0+3,” which only requires international arrivals to undergo three days of medical surveillance at home or at a hotel of choice.
According to Hong Kong-based travel booking site Klook, Japan-related searches increased by 11 times from the previous week after the Japanese government announced the easing of its daily arrival cap. Popular destinations are Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa.
Japanese food is popular among Hong Kongers, and many people have a positive image of Japan through anime, among other things. In 2019, before the pandemic, some 2.29 million Hong Kongers, about one-third of the territory’s entire population, visited Japan.
“We thought of going to South Korea or Thailand, but we decided to go to Japan because we love Japanese culture,” said a man surnamed Ng who was standing in line at the counter of budget carrier HK Express to travel to Japan with his partner. “Japan has lots of places to eat, go shopping and have fun.”
He plans to spend between HK$20,000 and HK$30,000 in 11 days.
Airlines are increasing the number of flights to attract surging travel demand from Hong Kong to Japan. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airlines will resume flights to Haneda Airport every day from November, and have four flights a week to Sapporo starting in December.
HK Express has begun service to Okinawa and Nagoya from October, in addition to Narita, Osaka and Fukuoka. “The number of Japan-bound flights will increase to 50 a week, and to 120 a week in December,” said chief executive officer Mandy Ng.
It seems that Japan Airlines is also benefiting from Hong Kongers’ active travel demand. “We were swamped by bookings immediately after the Japanese government announced its easing of travel curbs earlier this month, and bookings for Japan-bound flights from Oct 11 to Oct 31 jumped by about more than 1,400 in two weeks,” said Hong Kong branch manager Koji Hayamizu. “More than 90% of bookings appear to have come from Hong Kongers, and business class is also selling well.”
Airlines are adding flights at a rapid pace, but some experts think that is not enough to meet soaring demand. “Shortage of Japan-bound flights has become a big problem, as Hong Kongers are scrambling for airline tickets to Tokyo and Osaka,” said Timothy Chui, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association. “Prices for round-trip coach tickets between Hong Kong and Japan during the Christmas season have soared to HK$18,000 to HK$20,000.”
Cathay is facing a shortage of pilots and flight attendants due to restructuring. The airline has begun recruiting some 4,000 staffers, half of them flight attendants.
But Cathay is only paying a base salary of HK$9,100 a month for flight attendants. Some industry insiders say it will be difficult for Cathay to hire experienced flight attendants with such low salaries, equivalent to those for rookies elsewhere.