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Travel from Japan to U.S. posts double-digit drop
There aren't as many Japanese tourists walking the streets of the United States as there were a year ago. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which covers the third quarter of 2009, puts Japanese travel to the United States down 10 percent to 15 percent on average relative to the same quarter in 2008, and the situation is forecasted to be grim for the fourth quarter results, as well, which are expected to show a continued decline. Seventy-eight percent of the Japan travel trade has projected a drop in fourth quarter travel results year-over-year. And it doesn't look better for the beginning of this year. Fifty-two percent of the travel firms in Japan that were surveyed anticipated a decrease in travel bookings to the United States for the first quarter of 2010 relative to the first quarter of 2009. Economic concerns, airfare and fuel charges and pandemic/epidemic fears were reported as the leading drivers of the travel slump for the Japanese market (for travel to the United States).
In the third quarter of 2009, 849,687 people traveled from Japan to the United States, a drop of 5 percent from the third quarter of 2008. July 2009 was particularly tough, with 244,412 arrivals resulting in a year-over-year decline of 15 percent. September was the lone bright spot, with 309,435 arrivals resulting in an increase of 8 percent – the first monthly year-over-year increase in 15 months.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ryan Feb 26th 2010 2:25PM
How would this impact air fares, if at all? Would they get lower to entice more people to travel or higher because they have to make up the decrease in customers?
Bryan Feb 27th 2010 2:21PM
Less people riding means less revenue, or income. If prices go up, a % of current customers will leave due to loss of demand. Therefore, prices up, demand down. Prices should be priced down, so those with lower wages have a chance to fly, which means new customers to cover the losses of the ones who chose not to fly to America.
Lee Feb 27th 2010 2:12PM
I am reminded of a community college class I took over 20 years ago when a classmate did her 'project' and bored us to tears with 15 minutes of meaningless 'statistics' she supposedly compiled. And. ? What is the result....of all your work, Mr. Johansmeyer? Impact on specifically what part of the U.S.....how is this affecting the country? Are they going somewhere else instead? Why are they choosing not to come here? Do we need to build more Outlet malls? Sorry.....your terrible blurb has put me in a bad mood, if only temporarirly. I move on....
Russmac Feb 27th 2010 9:04PM
I could not agree more with you Lee. You are right on target.
Diane D Feb 27th 2010 5:45PM
I thought the same thing, Lee. No theory; no conclusion; just inadequate facts. Interesting, but we need to know more. Are there less Japanese tourists worldwide? Fuel costs, air costs and pandemics are not exclusive to the US - that's happening everywhere. So are Japanese tourists avoiding the US, or are they simply, in general, traveling less or choosing closer destinations as a cost saving? More Americans are traveling domestically - doesn't mean we don't like Europe, just that we can't afford it right now! More details please!
Susan Feb 27th 2010 5:59PM
It's affecting the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. Both used to be packed with Asians!
D Feb 27th 2010 2:24PM
So the study is only for the orientals coming from Japan...which has the same bleak economy as we do....not a surprise.
Grant Feb 27th 2010 5:07PM
your an idiot. orientals from Japan? moron...
Parrot Lady Feb 27th 2010 7:37PM
Oriental is a generic term for people from the Asiatic Region of the world. It is okay to refer to the Japanese as oriental, because more than just Japanese live in Japan like more than the whites, blacks, asians, mexicans and indians live here in the US yet they refer to themselves as Americans, even if they may not be from the country originally, or are natural born citizens.
Don't take offense because of the lack of politically correct euphemisms on a derelict AOL message board because you yourself have nothing better to nit pick on. Like going outside. I myself, am about to walk my dog through a park on this lovely afternoon and consequentially forget I invested two cents in this conversation because I have more to do. =D
John Feb 27th 2010 2:24PM
I think 'once you've seen it' you're full. How many Japanese can afford to come here year after year. Not much has changed... Maybe they ran out of film??
Al Feb 27th 2010 2:32PM
They definately will not rent Toyotas upon their arrival.
Can't get that discount.
Marcy Shamb Feb 27th 2010 3:48PM
Here in New England we have had a rash of elderly folks crashing into
buildings, stores, etc when parking. The big media issue was their age
and the question, why were they allowed to drive. In hindsight I wonder
how many of those elderly were driving Toyotas. We never had this
large an amount of elderly surging into buildings and people before...
Not that one shouldn't stop driving when one gets to a certain point, but
it did seem like a sudden rash of accidents compared to past years and
decades.
Marcy
denise Feb 27th 2010 2:35PM
Darn. They are, hands down, the nicest tourists Americans deal with-ask anyone in the service industry.
Mike Feb 27th 2010 3:07PM
I agree with Denise. Working Disney World 18+yrs, and have nothing but nice things to say about the Japanese. A wonderful nationality to work for.
tom kelly Feb 27th 2010 4:05PM
Ditto the Australians...always seem so friendly. I've been in the tourist industry for 35 years and always joke that, "Surely there must be crabby Australians, but...apparently they don't travel!" I say this to them, too...and they always get a big laugh.
ernesto Feb 27th 2010 9:53PM
They should stop killing Whales and Sharks so they can hold there heads up again.
BILLY WINSLOW Feb 27th 2010 2:37PM
Maybe they are all too busy trying to kill whales.
chuck joy Feb 27th 2010 2:44PM
That's because they are all living here now!
George D Feb 27th 2010 2:53PM
So it was just a few weeks ago that I saw a story about a decline in US citizens visiting Japan. Now I see a similar story about a drop in Japanese tourism to the US and airfares are cited as one of the reasons.
When I used to travel on business to Japan, I was always amazed that my Asian counterpart could come this direction for about half the airfare that we had to pay for the same flight to Japan. The reason was that, as planes go from here to Japan, they still have to return to the US. Duhhhh. So to entice Japanese tourists to fill these planes, they offered discounts. It's supply and demand folks. Fewer flights to Japan results in fewer flights from Japan. That results in higher ticket prices for them.
Higher costs, usually result in decreased volume.
Al Schrader Feb 27th 2010 7:28PM
"Mr. Hiroshi, can you tell us a little abouth this car you have here ?" "Yes, deese is dee Toyota Lexus, dee fastest car in the world. I take deese car to your eh Bonneville Salt Flats and it went from one end to dee other in a seven point two seconds and on to Anchorage, Alaska in eleven minutes more". "Weren't there any State Troopers chasing you ?" "Yes, but they faded away after I hit two hundred" "What made you stop in Anchorage ?" "No gas left" .