Retail tourism is playing a pivotal role in the recovery of the Travel & Tourism sector, which saw inbound tourism revenues surging by 82% in 2022.

The growth also reflected a favorable comparison with the same period a year ago, when Hong Kong was experiencing tight Covid-19 restrictions. Tourism to the municipality was exceptionally low at the time.

The revival in inbound tourism should continue to benefit the retail sector in the coming months, a government spokesperson said.

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has written to the Minister for Transport, Catherine King, to express concerns about Australia’s high airfares and air capacity and its impact on inbound tourism

In July, 313,300 Chinese entered Japan, down 70% compared with four years ago. Those arrival figures are expected to surge after the lifting of the ban.

In the first half of this year, the country’s entry and exit authorities recorded a total of 168 million arrivals and departures from the Chinese mainland, which is around 49 percent of the figure in the same period in 2019, according to the National Immigration Administration.

Alongside countries like Singapore, Vietnam, the United States, and Mexico, the GCC region has shown a strong recovery in visitor numbers, reaffirming Japan’s enduring appeal as a preferred travel destination.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for the global travel and tourism market in 2020 and 2021 as countries around the world implemented lockdowns and travel bans to curb the number of infections.

The Covid-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to the tourism sector, slashing foreign arrivals and displacing almost 1.1 million service workers nationwide.

Many tourists pivoted to visa-on-arrival at the airport, which consequently caused congestion in terminals.