JTB forecasts Japanese "careful" spending trend to continue

Print Article E-Mail Article

Leading travel agency JTB Corp has released its projections of Japanese travel and expenditure trends for the summer vacation, defined as 15 July to 31 August. Estimates were based on a questionnaire survey of 2,200 travellers booking with JTB offices, airline bookings and industry trends.

The results show that the total number of Japanese overseas travellers is forecast to rise 1.9% to reach 2.68m this summer. Bookings for domestic holidays in Japan are also forecast to rise 1.9% to 72.96m. The average length of a trip remains unchanged at 3.9 days. The desire to travel is very solid for the summer season, said JTB, and reasons for not travelling such as "concern over economic prospects" and "budget constraints" have actually reduced.

Meanwhile a "careful" spending trend of Japanese tourists is expected to continue. Average travel expenditure of Japanese international travellers is expected to rise by 4.5% to Y215,261 ($1,722), partially due to the weakness of the yen compared to last year. Travel expenditure of domestic travellers is expected to drop 2.0% to Y35,115 ($281).

Favoured destinations will be China, Korea and Europe and Asia overall remains popuar because of its high degree of hospitality. China is the fastest-growing destination. And although Japanese travellers to China are mainly middle-aged, new package tours for families and young women are changing this profile, said JTB.

Most popular destinations for Japanese international travel, summer 2001*

Europe 420,000 +3.7%
Korea 342,000 +5.9%
US mainland 338,000 -0.6%
Hawaii 272,000 -1.1%
China 221,000 +8.3%
Guam/Saipan 212,000 +2.9%
Thailand 130,000 +2.4%
Taiwan 115,000 +0.9%
Australia 114,000 +0.9%
Hong Kong 113,000 +2.7%

*forecasts for 15 July to 31 August.
Source: JTB Corp