According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 2017 saw a record 28.7 million foreigners visited Japan which was up 19.3 per cent from the previous year.Published on : Saturday, March 24, 2018
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 2017 saw a record 28.7 million foreigners visited Japan which was up 19.3 per cent from the previous year.
More foreign travellers are expected to visit Japan this spring to enjoy cherry blossoms in full bloom across the nation. Yet just trying to increase the number is not enough if Japan wants to see its economic growth driven more by tourism, said Miwako Date, president and chief executive officer of hotel operator Mori Trust Co.
The key is to draw more well-to-do visitors, who are interested in having unique experiences and are capable of spending more on accommodations and food, rather than budget travelers who tend to focus on shopping, Date said in an interview with The Japan Times. “People today focus too much on building new budget services,” she said. “This doesn’t help the government to achieve its goal.”
Besides the goal of boosting the number of foreign visitors to Japan — 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030 — the government hopes their spending will reach ¥8 trillion by 2020 and ¥15 trillion by 2030.
Spending by foreign visitors in Japan hit a record ¥4.4 trillion last year, a 17.8 per cent rise from 2016, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
Retail spending by Chinese travellers was by far the largest, at ¥878 billion — more than half of the total shopping expenditures.
In a bid to diversify business opportunities for Japan’s tourism industry, the agency recently launched a new online ad campaign promoting the nation’s nature and culture-rich locations that “exist off the beaten tourist path.”
The campaign is particularly aimed at potential visitors from European and other developed countries. “To achieve our 2020 and 2030 goals, it’s crucial for Japan to gain more people from these areas who have relatively high income standards,” Japan Tourism Agency chief Akihiko Tamura said during a ceremony last month to launch the campaign. “Japan last year attracted over 3 million visitors from outside Asia, particularly from Europe, North America and Oceania, for the first time. But we are not satisfied with this number,” Tamura said.
Date of Mori Trust, which operates 22 hotels and resort facilities in Japan, said it is important to understand what affluent visitors want and provide appropriate services.
“They already have plenty of assets. So they are craving new experiences in which they can satisfy their five senses while staying away from the ordinary,” she said, noting that IT billionaires in particular are less interested in “showing off their economic status by staying at a plush hotel full of marble and glittering gold.”
Amid the increasing inbound tourist arrivals, Mori Trust plans to open 17 new hotels, including facilities at the Hakuba ski resort in Nagano Prefecture and near the popular folk village Hida Takayama in Gifu Prefecture.
“Many (wealthy) travellers actually want to visit rural areas outside Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. But they often feel there are not enough hotels there,” Date said. “Having them stay longer helps not only our business but also local economies.”
Since opening the outlet, Royal Road Ginza, in 2003, Mizuno said about 90 per cent of customers have been Japanese seniors.
But he said the major travel agency is trying to attract more foreign customers after extending the service’s scope in 2011 to those who wish to plan “one-and-only” leisure trips in Japan.
Also important is to offer tailor-made services to meet their various needs, said Makoto Mizuno, general manager at JTB Corp.’s outlet specializing in luxury tours in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district.
Tags: Japan mulls bespoke tourism