Downbeat Golden Week for Japanese travel

Print Article E-Mail Article

Golden Week, Japan's traditional annual holiday break, has seen a serious decline in travel bookings thanks partly to the impact of war in Iraq and the spread of the SARS virus, according to a survey carried out by tour operator JTB Corp

The total number of travellers for the week fell by 3.2% year-on-year, but overseas travel suffered a far more serious decline, with 36% fewer Japanese travelling abroad than in 2002.

The last time both domestic and overseas travel in Golden Week declined was in 1997 when, as now, the dates on which the various national holidays fell meant that only one 3-day sequence of holidays occurred. While this contributed to the fall this year, Japan's disappointing economic performance and worries over increases in travel costs have exacerbated the situation.

Among reasons given by those who stayed at home during Golden Week, the expense of travel saw the biggest increase, with 16.6% of those surveyed citing this as their motivation for staying at home. Just under 8% of respondents gave health worries as their reason for not travelling, an increase of 1.9% on the previous year.