TOKYO —

Some 458,000 Japanese people are seen to make overnight or longer overseas trips during the Golden Week holiday period between late April and early May, down 14.6% from the level in the same period of last year, JTB Corp said Tuesday.

The estimated drop is because Golden Week this year has only four consecutive holidays from May 3, according to the leading Japanese travel agency. The JTB survey does not cover business trips.

Including those planning domestic travel, a total of 21,902,000 people are seen to start trips between April 25 and May 5, down 0.5%, JTB said.

The number of travelers to distant overseas destinations, such as North America and Europe, is likely to drop due to hikes in airfares stemming from higher fuel prices, it said.

JTB projects a fall of 12.9% in the number of travelers to North America and an 18.8% drop in travelers to Europe.

The number of travelers to China is seen to tumble 20%, reflecting concerns about the safety of Chinese food.

JTB estimates per-capita costs for overseas travel will increase 1.2% from the year-before level to 254,700 yen.

The company expects the number of people making domestic trips to fall 0.2% to 21,444,000.

The number of travelers to destinations in the eastern region of Kanto is seen growing thanks in part to events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the opening of Tokyo Disneyland, the nucleus of Tokyo Disney Resort.

JCN

11 Comments

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  Notginger at 08:49 AM JST - 9th April

  Why 458,000 and not a nice round figure like 460,000? It is a pretty dodgy prediction, after all - oh I get it now - by not having a round figure it sounds somehow more accurate and scientific. Well spun.

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  greenteaonsens at 09:00 AM JST - 9th April

  GW sucks this year because of the way the dates have fallen.

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  GrouchyGaijin at 09:03 AM JST - 9th April

  458,000 lost souls staring at tourist maps in public, stopping at the bottom of escalators, carrying suitcases with enough clothes for 3 weeks, expecting to use Yen abroad and saying, "Ooh! Look at all the foreigners!" when in other countries! Hopefully these travelers are the more enlightened "repeat offenders." Apparently 85%+ of Japanese passports are used only once, according to the DFA, Jpn. Govt.

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  some14some at 10:13 AM JST - 9th April

  458,000 visitors from silver aged society is pretty high, however this figure will be revised downward after the holiday period is over, this is what has been observed for last couple of years.

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  quato at 10:40 AM JST - 9th April

  Paying 5 times the price of a ticket in March for a 4-day holiday during GW always seemed pretty nutty to me.

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  smithinjapan at 11:04 AM JST - 9th April

  Suckers! I checked the cost of flights coming to Japan from Korea and going to Korea from Japan. The former 1/3rd the cost of the latter, under the same carrier.

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  eastokyo at 11:39 AM JST - 9th April

  Suckers! I checked the cost of flights coming to Japan from Korea and going to Korea from Japan. The former 1/3rd the cost of the latter, under the same carrier.

  Same service, different direction. What does this say about the Japanese? They are willing to pay high prices to get out of their country for a few days. It's no wonder really - work long days, commute in a sardine tin can and live in a small uninsulated box. Can't take a holiday at other times cos of the way society has organised itself, so cough up for the inflated prices fools, then back to reality working to cover the costs of your few days of life.

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  thedeath at 12:56 PM JST - 9th April

  ha! what a life style! pity on them, pity on me too! without a family here i would prefer to just get out the here never be return. i hate robotic life style here!

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  sarcasm123 at 01:07 PM JST - 9th April

  "Same service, different direction. What does this say about the Japanese? They are willing to pay high prices to get out of their country for a few days."

  Or perhaps that Japan is a richer country than Korea? But that would conflict with the "all things Japanese are bad" religion some here are so dedicated to.

  Anyway, the Japanese travel abroad => the JT public mocks them the Japanese don't travel abroad => the JT public mocks them

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  fireant at 01:43 PM JST - 9th April

  Or perhaps that Japan is a richer country than Korea?

  I've often wondered why things made and sold in Japan are more expensive than the same item made in Japan and sold in the US. Now I know. Japan is a richer country so the people don't mind being gouged on prices.

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  sarcasm123 at 02:06 PM JST - 9th April

  You're starting to get it. Next week I will explain supply and demand, as you clearly have no idea about that concept either.

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