Chinese companies are big investors in Japan’s tourism industry

Chinese companies have been pouring investment into Japan’s tourism industry. On 1 December 2015, Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart reportedly acquired Japan’s Hoshino Resorts Tomamu, a 757-room ski resort in Hokkaido, for ¥18.36bn ($148.7m). This is the largest Chinese investment in Japan so far. Over the next five years a joint venture between China’s Shanghai Spring International Travel Agency and Japanese property developer Sunfrontier Fudousan will see a further ¥20bn invested to open a chain of 20 hotels in Japan. Analysts say Chinese investment in Japan's tourism industry is a 'win-win situation" supported by the easing of travel requirements, increased availability of flights from China to Japan and yen depreciation. According to the Japan Tourism Agency, 4.28m Chinese tourists visited Japan in the first ten months of 2015 and Chinese tourists were the biggest spenders in Q2 2015, spending ¥466bn.

(Photo : Reuters) Chinese companies have been pouring investments into Japan's tourism industry - Chinese remain the top foreign visitors of Japan yearly

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China's investments in Japan's tourism industry has risen over the past years with companies from the mainland taking advantage of the large influx of Chinese tourists to the islands of Japan.



Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Co. Ltd has reportedly acquired a 100 percent stake in Hoshino Resorts Group's 757-room ski destination Resort Tomamu, which rests on Japan's northernmost island Hokkaido for 18.36 billion yen ($148.7 million).



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Reports indicate that the acquisition took effect on Dec. 1. Shanghai Yuyuan reportedly will provide financial support and draw out plans to make Resort Tomamu the best ski destination in Hokkaido.



The Hokkaido Tourism Association (HTO) has said Shanghai Yuyuan made the 'right' decision by investing $150 million in Resort Tomamu. This is the largest Chinese investment in the island so far.



HTO said that a number of Chinese corporations have been making inquiries about property prices in Hokkaido.



Financial analysts said that although the reasons for the sudden interest of Chinese corporations in Hokkaido remains unclear, one thing is certain though: Hokkaido has been one of the top Chinese tourists' destination in recent years - especially during skiing season.



The Association said that in February 2014 alone, 22.5 percent of the tourists that stayed in Hokkaido were from China.The figure was almost the same until September this year.



Investment analysts say Shanghai Yuyuan's investment in Resort Tomamu was largely influenced by the large-scale visits of Chinese tourists to the resort yearly.



Wang Junjie, a senior researcher at Shanghai-based Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Co., said Shanghai Yuyuan's investment in Japan is in line with its future target, which is to focus on business travel.



"Apart from hotels, catering, skiing and all kinds of outdoor activities that the resorts provide, the advanced management experience will be of great value to Shanghai Yuyuan as it strives to further enhance its service qualieriencty," Wang said.



Another Chinese company that has poured investment into Japan is the Shanghai Spring International Travel Agency Co, Ltd.



Shanghai Spring, together with Japanese property developer Sunfrontier Fudousan Co. Ltd, will invest 20 billion yen to open a chain of 20 hotels in Japan in the next five years.



Analysts say Chinese investment in Japan's tourism industry is a 'win-win situation" as travel requirements to Japan have eased coupled with the yen's depreciation and the availability of more flights to Japan.



Japan Tourism Agency has pegged the number of Chinese tourists that visited Japan in the first ten months of this year at 4.28 million, up by more than 100 percent compared to the same period last year. Out of the total number of tourists that visited Japan second quarter of this year, Chinese tourists were the biggest spenders at 466 billion yen.



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TagsHokkaido, Chinese investments, Shanghai Spring, inbound tourism, Japan Tourism Agency, Resort Tomamu, Hokkaido Tourism Association, Shanghai Yuyuan, Shanghai Spring International Travel Agency, Chinese Tourists Japan, Japan Tourism Industry, China-Japan