JTB: 32K Japanese visitors for Marianas

The Marianas will receive about 32,000 Japanese visitors during this year’s Golden Week, according to a study by a Tokyo-based travel management agency.

Data from JTB Corp. show that the same number of Japanese travelers came to Guam and Saipan during the same time last year. No individual figure is given for each destination.

Golden Week is a series of national holidays in Japan, beginning on April 26 and ending on May 6.

But Japanese are expected to go on trips any day between April 25 and May 5, with overseas departures peaking in the second half.

Overall, overseas travel during this year’s Golden Week is seen to drop by almost 15 percent, with the number of travelers declining from 536,000 last year to 458,000 this year.

Popular destinations can expect their Golden Week arrivals to decline. Examples are Hawaii, which faces an 11 percent drop in Japanese visitors during the holiday period; Europe, 19 percent; and the U.S. mainland, 23 percent.

JTB Corp. observed that travelers tend to pick destinations closer to Japan because of the timing of the national holidays. There are three working days separating the first national holiday (April 29) from the four other holidays.

JTB added that if travelers rely only upon national holidays, they will not have a long enough period to head for remote destinations like Hawaii or Europe. “And when time off has to be added to national holidays, costs have to be carefully considered,” the agency said.

In most cases, JTB prices are lower for tours during the second half or toward the end of Golden Week. For Hawaii, the largest number of departures throughout the entire period is on May 4, when prices revert to normal weekday rates.

“Economy minded travelers are clearly deciding to tack on paid holiday entitlement following national holidays in departing for more remote destinations,” JTB said.

Further, JTB said the rising fuel surcharges may be a factor for the reduced number of travelers.

A look at JAL’s one-way flights showed that fuel surcharges rose significantly over the past year. The fuel surcharge for Guam flights, for instance, increased from Y5,200 (about $52) in April 2007 to Y8,000 (about $80) this month.

Fuel surcharges also increased by $53 for Hawaii, Thailand and Singapore; $80 for North America, Europe, and Oceania; and $39 for China.

“For most Golden Week destinations, [fuel surcharges] have effectively risen by over 50 percent over the last year. Any further increases in fuel surcharges will invite reductions in the number of overseas travelers,” JTB said.