Tourists are seen in front of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Aug 8, 2016. (TORU YAMANAKA / AFP)

Japan’s new restrictions for Hong Kong travelers have dealt a fresh blow to the city’s tourism sector, which had already suffered the cancellation of over 4,000 outbound tours in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

According to the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, at least 120 local tour groups to the island nation have been affected, after Japan announced on Thursday that it will suspend visa-free admission for Hong Kong- and Macao-passport holders as part of its sweeping anti-coronavirus measures.

Visitors from China, including the two special administrative regions, and South Korea will undergo a two-week quarantine when entering the county as of Monday. The requirement will not be lifted before the end of the month.

The Japanese consulate in Hong Kong reportedly said the country will not issue new visas to Hong Kong residents after the visa-free suspension came into force, but cases involving humanitarian concerns will be considered separately.

Hong Kong is the East-Asian country’s fourth largest source of foreign visitors, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. About 2 million people from the SAR visited Japan each year since 2016.

Hong Kong’s outbound tours had already been drastically slashed during the Lunar New Year holiday due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“Travel agencies in the city have canceled more than 4,000 outbound tours as Iran, Italy, Israel, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam have imposed various travel restrictions,” said Alice Chan, executive director of the travel industry council.

“As Japan is one of the favorite travel destinations of Hong Kong people, the latest travel restriction measures by the Japanese government has hit Hong Kong’s outbound tourist business very hard,” Chan noted.

“The novel coronavirus outbreak has already hurt business prospects for the Easter holiday, and we are also pessimistic about the summer holiday season.”

In another development, Russian flag carrier Aeroflot announced on Friday it will temporarily suspend flights to and from Hong Kong until the end of the month. A Sunday flight bound for Moscow will be the last one before the suspension is scrapped.

oswald@chinadailyhk.com