Japanese travel-related spending hits rock bottom

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Japan's top travel agencies reported an 11.5% drop in international travel expenditure of Japanese in 2001, officials said this week. Japanese travel expenditure plunged 40% during the fourth quarter because of the September 11 attacks, an effect felt most acutely by duty-free operators in Hawaii, Micronesia, Australia and the US West Coast. Expenditure had been inching up 3.6% during the first nine months of last year and is forecast to return to growth this year.

The Japanese Transport Ministry said the 50 leading travel agencies reported a 4.9% decline in total tourism (international and domestic) in 2001 to Y5.67 trillion ($42.31bn). The largest, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), said the slump is slowly improving after it recorded a year-on-year fall of 28% in for travel in January. All of Japan's leading tour operators are recovering from a 50% to 60% plunge in bookings last October and November, compared to 2000.

According to JTB and Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) figures, an estimated 16.2m Japanese went on overseas tours in 2001, down by 9.1% from an all-time high of 17.82m in 2000. International and domestic travel expenditure combined held relatively steady at 0.9% down on the previous year, "reflecting the basic strength of travel demand", according to JTB.

Meanwhile JTB is maintaining an optimistic forecast for this year. Japanese international travel in 2002 is projected at 16.64m, up 2.7% over 2001, the first gain in two years, JTB said. Travel agencies like JTB have halved the price of tour packages to Hawaii and Guam just in order to fill seats. Japanese travellers are also taking on an older age profile. According to a booklet by the Japan Association of Travel Agents "Travel Industry Data Through 2001," overseas trips are becoming more common, and the dominant age group, which used to be twentysomethings, is being replaced by travellers in their 50s or even older.