Gloomy outlook for Japanese travel

(27-Sep-2001) - How do we make sense of the real Japan? There are plenty of economic indicators that tell us it?s the recession-ridden ?sick man of Asia?. New prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has warned things will get worse before they get better. But is this gloomy picture mirrored in duty-free? When DFNI?s John Rimmer travelled to Japan last month (just before the tragedy in the US), he found a market beset by contradictions.

(17-Oct-2001) - As the events on September 11 in the US have shown, forecasting the future is a precarious business. Not for the first time, perceived market trends have to be re-evaluated, and a new set of conditions adapted to.

(28-Sep-2001) - China is expected to be the world?s leading tourist destination by 2002 according to the World Tourism Organisation, and there will be opportunities for the entrepreneurial Chinese to take advantage. For travel and potentially for duty-free, this could signal another power shift in the region.

(1-Nov-2001) - Travel industry analysts believe that the all-important Japanese traveller?having cut back on travel with devastating results in places such as Hawaii and Guam?will head instead to intra-Asian destinations such as Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea over the next year.

(20-May-2001) - Patrick Moran, travel-retail consultant and ex-DFS executive, believes Dr Bussel is on the right track. He urges travel retailers to take some risks to inject some dynamism back in to the liquor business.