With relaxed visa policies, Japan has become a popular tourist destination for Chinese people in the forthcoming National Day holiday, eastday.com reported today.
In order to woo more Chinese people to travel to Japan, the Japanese government decided to waive its visa requirements from September 1, for those Chinese elementary and middle school students proceeding on a study tour.
From September 15, Japan began to issue visas to tourist groups in the provinces of Shangdong, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Jiangsu and Tianjin. Previously only those residing in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province were granted such visas.
To date, a total of 360 million Chinese people have been permitted to travel to Japan in package tours, the number rising by 260 million.
Travel agencies in Shandong, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Jiangsu and Tianjin provinces are currently busy preparing unique itineraries to Japan.
As of September, the number of residents in Nanjing signing up for Japanese tours, more than doubled that in the first eight months of this year. China International Travel Service's Qingdao branch has introduced a Japanese tour on a cruise liner, which is a big hit in the market. An industry analyst said that the Japanese tourist market has a great potential.