Hong Kong travel firm sees interest in Japan tours drop 20% amid regional tensions

Travel agency CEO says some customers asking to withdraw from Japan, following travel warning by China’s foreign affairs ministry

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China’s foreign ministry issued a warning late on Friday night, urging its people to avoid travelling to Japan as the safety of Chinese citizens there had “continued to deteriorate”. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 3:40pm, 19 Nov 2025Updated: 10:34pm, 19 Nov 2025

A Hong Kong travel agency has seen a 20 per cent drop in inquiries and sign-ups for its Japan tours, while Cathay Pacific Airways is allowing travellers to “modify” their flights to the country after Beijing’s earlier call for Chinese citizens to avoid going.

Yuen Chun-ning, CEO of travel agency WWPKG, also said on Wednesday that a few customers had asked if they could withdraw from tour packages to the country, a decision that he attributed to “psychological factors”.

But he noted that Japan remained a popular destination for Hongkongers despite travel warnings, with the company’s tours during the year-end peak travel season to carry on as usual.

“The number of inquiries and sign-ups for our Japan tours has dropped quite a bit [since the warnings were issued], about 20 per cent on Tuesday,” he said.

“Customers also called to ask whether itineraries would be affected, and we assured them that they would not.”

He added that any withdrawals from tour packages would still result in cancellation fees.

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