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Japanese tourists streaming back to Marianas
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Posted on Aug 04 2004
Japanese tourists are back on the move, with destinations such as Saipan, Guam, and Hawaii showing a strong trend of recovery that exceeds 2002 pre-SARS levels.
Based on the year-on-year comparison made by the Japan Association of Travel Agents, overseas package tours to Guam and Saipan reached 104.5 percent in April, 97.2 percent in May, and 108.2 percent in June.
Hawaii, for its part, topped the 2002 levels by 26 percent in April; 25.9 percent in May; and 5 percent in June.
Results of the JATA survey also revealed that China and Asia are both rallying steadily since last year’s drop due to the SARS scare. Both destinations posted hefty gains from April through June, as compared with the same period in 2003.
Further, travel to Hawaii, Guam and Saipan, and destinations in the United States and Canada, rose favorably in April and May, “thanks to the sequence of holidays during Golden Week [April 29 to May 5],” JATA said.
A look at the bookings for July through September showed all destinations greatly exceeding the level for the same period last year. Overall tours showed increases of 103.2 percent for July; 82.7 percent for August; and 65.1 percent for September, as compared with the same periods in 2003.
In particular, Asia and China staged a remarkable comeback. China registered increases of 270.9 percent in July; 140.8 percent in August; and 65.1 percent in September of the levels for the same months in 2003.
Compared to the same periods last year, Asia posted growths of 332.2 percent in July, 266.7 percent in August; 223.4 percent in September.
“In addition, compared with bookings for April through June in the survey three months ago, actual bookings for May and June rose sharply. According to the present survey, August and September are also expected to post significant gains,” JATA said.
Five of the biggest travel agencies participated in the survey. They are JTB Corp., Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. Ltd., Nippon Travel Agency Co. Ltd., Jalpak Co. Ltd., and Hankyu Express International Co. Ltd.
The survey was conducted at the beginning of July 2004.
