Japan has issued a travel warning for its nationals, urging them not to make nonessential trips to the United States because of the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak in that country, the foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday. Together with Gov. David Ige's new quarantine order for visitors, the move will likely further deepen the plunge in international arrivals to Hawaii.
Japan has taken similar steps to most European countries and banned trips to China, South Korea as well as Iceland, San Marino and parts of Italy, Switzerland and Spain.
The foreign ministry also said the decision came after the U.S. raised travel caution to Japan and four countries to level three, urging Americans not to make nonessential trips to Japan and requiring a 14-day self-imposed quarantine for Japanese nationals entering the U.S.
In Hawaii, international arrivals driven by Japanese tourists, has already taken a hit and will likely fall further under Gov. David Ige's mandatory order that visitors quarantine in hotel rooms for 14 days.
Japan is Hawaii's largest intenational market, with visitor expenditures of $2.1 billion and 1.4 million arrivals in 2019.
Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism data illustrate the plumming international arrivals.
A similar sharp decline can be seen in domestic arrivals to the islands, although that plunge began in the past week and a half.
