Despite the summer holiday peak, the number of visitors from the Chinese mainland to Japan plunged 56.1 percent year-on-year in July, extending the decline to an eighth straight month. Chinese analysts said the sustained slump points to a deeper loss of travel demand as strained China-Japan ties, driven by a series of erroneous moves by the Japanese side, continue to weigh on people-to-people exchanges.

Mainland visitors fell more than 56% in July, compounding a months-long slump driven by escalating diplomatic tensions and soaring costs.

Despite the summer holiday peak, the number of visitors from the Chinese mainland to Japan plunged 56.1 percent year-on-year in July, extending the decline to an eighth straight…