Record Japanese travel forecast for Golden Week

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A record number of Japanese tourists are forecast to make overseas trips during Golden Week which starts tomorrow, but the rate of increase will be marginal according to leading travel agency JTB Corp.

JTB estimates that Golden Week, so-called because of the three Japanese national holidays in the first week in May, will see 569,000 overseas visits, an increase of 0.8% over 2000. The growth rate has slowed sharply from the 6.0% increase last year and the 18.6% increase in 1999. South Korea is also expected to become the favourite destination for the first time in ten years, attracting 88,000 Japanese travellers with offers of cheap package tours. Meanwhile a record 22,364,000 people will make domestic trips within Japan next week.

According to JTB, the growth of travel has been held back because this year's Golden Week has two work days (May 1 and 2) in the middle of the break. During the week Japanese tourists are expected to spend Y1.07 trillion ($8,722m) on travel and shopping, an increase of 9.7%.

• JTB made its estimates based on a survey of 2,200 consumers plus industry data including ticket sales and airline bookings.