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Japan’s Golden Week celebration gives lift to tourism slump
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Posted on Apr 30 1999
Japan’s Golden Week celebration from April 29-May 6 is giving the island’s ailing tourism economy a much-needed shot-in-the-arm as Japanese tour operators struggle to get a hotel booking for their guests who will spend the long holiday here.
“We are almost full now and the demand is just great unlike last year’s Golden Week period,” according to Hyatt Regency’s management.
Japanese tour operators expect arrivals during the Golden Week will increase 20 percent this year, according to Kiyoshi Aikawa, general manager of Creative Tours Micronesia. During this period, travelers have several options to take a 5-9 day sequence of holiday, making it a first truly “Golden” week in years.
A total of seven charter flights by Japan Airlines will be arriving during the Golden Week — one from Osaka, three each from Fukuoka and Nagoya which is expected to bring in approximately 1,855 visitors. This is on top of the regular JAL flights to Saipan which are already fully booked this holiday season.
“This is a much better holiday season because young Japanese have more money to spend,” said Iwao Sakai, general manager of R&C Tours, adding that the cheap package tours to Saipan has enticed Japanese travelers to come here. Aside from Saipan and Guam, the most popular destinations for Japanese are United States and Hawaii.
The Northern Marianas would have become a more favorable destination for Japanese had Continental Micronesia did not drop its direct service from key cities in Japan to Saipan, said Sakai. “They don’t like to wait for a long time in Guam so they do not come here anymore. Maybe if there’s a change in schedule there would be more visitors coming here,” he added.
Based on the arrivals record of the Marianas Visitors Authority, visitors coming from Japan have shown a steady increase after suffering a double-digit decline for a long time.
Japan, the island’s main source of tourists, has been battling its worst recession since World War II. Tour operators are hoping that economic reforms being undertaken by the Japanese government would stimulate international travel.
