Japanese tourists cancel trips to HK

Japanese tourists cancel trips to HK

HONG KONG: Japanese tourists are canceling holidays to Hong Kong fearing they will be caught up in anti-Japanese protests that have erupted in Chinese cities, travel associations said on Tuesday.

Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association estimated that about 30 percent of Japanese tours to the city for May had been canceled and up to 50 percent to mainland China had been called off.

"Anti-Japanese sentiment has heightened as relations between China and Japan have deteriorated," said Charles Ng, the association's chairman.

"Hong Kong is seen as part of China so a lot of Japanese are concerned their holiday would be ruined or worse, their lives could be threatened," Ng said. -- AFP