Japan

Japan Airlines carried a total of 402,587 international passengers during the Japanese New Year vacation period from 25 December 2009 to 5 January 2010. Load factors on flights to most international regions showed considerable improvement due to substantial reductions in capacity.

Measured in available seat kilometers, total capacity on international routes was 21.1% less than the holiday period last year. The overall seat load factor at 83.6% is 8.9 percentage points higher than the previous period despite a decline of 11.8% in international passenger numbers. On their part, the troubled JAL Group operated 76 additional flights, both scheduled and charter, to such destinations as Guam, Honolulu, Cairns, Fairbanks, Siem Reap, Bali and more while on domestic routes, JAL decreased seat supply by 6.9% against the same period last year, transporting 1,327,578 domestic passengers, 7% down versus the number of passengers carried during the festive period a year before.

Overall load factor on domestic Japan flights was recorded at 2.1% points lower to stand at 63.3%. During this holiday period, JAL Group operated an additional 128 domestic flights to meet demand on popular routes in Japan, such as Tokyo – Miyazaki, and Tokyo – Kagoshima.

Speculation continues to grow about the fate of Japan Airlines (JAL) after its shares plunged to record lows amidst effort by Japan’s national carrier to restructure itself in order to get itself back on solid footing. In this regard, a government-backed corporate turnaround body, which is responsible for restructuring JAL, has proposed to the airline’s creditor banks that the struggling carrier be placed in court-backed bankruptcy proceedings.

This proposal has however seen banks rejecting the liquidation proposal because of fears of widening losses and concern that bankruptcy could disrupt the airline’s operations. The latest news reports that the Development Bank of Japan has nonetheless agreed to increase the amount of its unsecured loans to the airline. This is the fourth time the troubled carrier has been bailed out by the state-run Development Bank of Japan since 2001. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the renewed uncertainty over JAL’s future creates ever-widening ripples. Indeed the new bankruptcy concerns appear certain to force a downgrading of the carrier’s credit rating, and already the premium it must pay to insure its loans has increased significantly.

A further issue noted by CAPA was that in the event of JAL’s bankruptcy and any sharp reduction in airline size, the government would be anxious not to allow a scramble for any airport slots consequently released at Tokyo’s capacity constrained airports. Delta Air Lines, the world’s biggest airline operator, and its rival American Airlines, have been vying for a stake in JAL in a bid to expand their Asian networks, with Delta offering a US$1 billion offer to lure JAL from American. The latest news is that Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, is considering taking over the international routes of its struggling rival. All Nippon is reportedly looking to increase its overseas flights by targeting profitable routes to Europe and the United States and has allegedly informed the Japanese government of its interest. All Nippon competes with JAL on more than 30 of All Nippon’s 40 international routes.

Several cabinet ministers are reported to have asked JAL to completely withdraw from overseas flights and hand the business over to All Nippon. JAL has of late been making temporary adjustments to its international flight frequency and fleet plan. This has seen frequency flights on two international routes, namely that from Tokyo (Narita) to Sao Paulo via New York, and Tokyo (Narita) to Shanghai, reduced for a period of two to three months between January and March 2010, strongly attributed to weak passenger demand on these routes. Capacity is also expected to be lowered with the downsizing of aircrafts used on three other international routes between Tokyo and Beijing as well as Hong Kong for a similar length of time.

Travel market research conducted by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) from the end of October to early November revealed that the diffusion index (DI) of overseas travel for the period October – December stood at minus 66. As much as this figure still stays submerged in the negative zone, this is indeed a modest recovery compared to the minus 72 recorded in the last survey covering the period July – September.

The outlook for the next three months indicates a DI of minus 62, suggesting a slow but continued improvement. Seen by type of business, full-line travel agencies reportedly rose to the highest level DI level at minus 46, a sharp rise of 14 points from the last survey. On the other hand, retailers and house agents are turning for the better; retailers with sales exceeding three billion yen saw an improvement of 22 points. However, agencies specializing mainly in overseas travel with sales of more than five billion yen lost 16 points. Overseas package tour wholesalers also sank by 11 points. In the outlook for the next three months predicts that full-line agencies will record a minus 60 DI, package tour wholesalers minus 78, and the agencies specializing in overseas travel minus 56.

These indexed figures therefore point towards mixed sentiments for the immediate future among the different businesses. In the current assessment by market segment, the survey by JATA notes that business and inspection trips and senior market exhibited an uptick of nearly 10 points. Seniors, above all, recorded the highest in DI at minus 33. Honeymooners, on the other hand, went a notch higher in comparison by two points to minus 57, while ratings for families went down by 6 points to minus 66. In the outlook for the next three months, ratings for students will rise by 12 points to minus 63 as their travel season begins. In reading the present sentiment by destination, Asia will steadily move up 4 points to minus 41 with travel to Korea and Taiwan shows a strong sign as nearby choice destinations among the Japanese, while China will gain an upswing of 16 points to minus 43.

Travel to Hawaii, Oceania, and Micronesia, besides choice destinations in Asia will significantly improve given the DI signals for the next three months. The DI for domestic travel on the contrary fell 9 points to minus 66, but indications point towards an upturn of 6 points for three months ahead to minus 60.

The Japan Tourism Board (JTB) anticipates that the number of overseas travelers for the year-end and New Year period (December 23, 2009 – January 3, 2010) is expected to decrease by 4.1% to 565,000, a record third straight negative trend since 2007/2008. The agency notes that the low traveler figures is attributed mostly to an unfavorable holiday calendar that will last for only four days, from December 31 to January 3.

With this restricted holiday period, most travelers are instead opting for nearby destinations for short stays that will average just 3.5 days, short by 0.2 days than is the usual. On the contrary, outbound travel is favorable attributed to by factors associated with appreciation of the Japanese yen coupled by reduction in oil surcharge mostly to Korea, where a 4.7% year on year growth estimated to 111,000 on a weak won, will be gained surpassing even the spiked level of visitors attained a year ago. Travel expenses are also assumed to be curtailed by 15.1% on smaller surcharge amount and a bigger share of short-haul destinations. Total travel expenditure among the Japanese is currently estimated at 109 billion yen, down 18.6%.

As Korea is the only destination that exceeds the result achieved a year earlier, China, Malaysia, Canada, and New Zealand are nonetheless maintaining the same level of Japanese visitors year on year. On the flip side, the destination that marks the biggest decline in Japanese outbound visitors is South Pacific, down 25% at 3,000 travelers, followed by the U.S. mainland, down 15.2% (equivalent of 5,000 people) at 28,000 travelers. Domestic travelers are, on the other hand, estimated at 28.5 million, down 2.5% with travel expenses averaging 32,400 yen, down 3.6%, and total travel spending is expected to be 923.4 billion yen, down 6%. JTB’s report that anticipates negative growth contrasts to the low sales recorded by travel agencies in the country.

For instance on their part, Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT) posted 38.2 billion yen in travel sales for October 2009, down 15% from last year, of which overseas travel was 11.5 billion yen, down 21.7%, and domestic travel was 25.4 billion yen, down 13.3 %. In overseas travel sales, group travel sank 23.9% to 4.0 billion yen with ordinary groups falling 22.8% to 2.7 billion yen and student groups down 26.1% to 1.2 billion yen. Package tours also plunged 24.4% to 4.1 billion yen with Holiday dropping 24.3% to 4.1 billion yen and other packages plummeting 71.8% to 2 million yen.

According to figures derived from a Nikkei survey of 19 key hotels in Tokyo and 18 in Osaka reveal that occupancy rates at major hotels in the Tokyo area climbed to 82.7% in October, up 3.2 points on the year and the fourth straight month of year-over-year increases.

This increase is attributed to an influx of Chinese tourists to the area, and in the number of business travelers from Europe and the U.S., the latter travel segment that bounced back since declining in the wake of last fall’s financial crisis. On their part, the Hilton Tokyo which had experienced 30-35% fewer foreign business customers than in 2007, reportedly rebounded to being down just 10-15% in October. The Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku on its part recorded an occupancy rate of 91.9% in October, a 0.8-point increase from the same month a year earlier.

The Tokyo Prince Hotel saw its occupancy rate climb 3.2 points to 85.5% attributed to a strong inflow of Chinese tourists, many in groups of four to eight. Increases in business clients have mostly been customers from pharmaceutical companies from the United States of America. Compared to Tokyo, occupancy rates in the Osaka area slipped 2.4 points year-over-year to 80.7% after improving in September for the first time in 14 months.

As the second largest economy in the world with a population of 126 million, Japan offers the highest numbers of high net worth individuals in the Asia Pacific region and where the country’s baby boomer market is one of the wealthiest and largest consumer groups in the world.

These key attributes have precipitated hosting of a new luxury travel event-Blossom Japan-by Lucioles, the recently launched company headed by Jay Martens, co-founder of Reed Exhibitions’ Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM). Blossom Japan is a premium trade event exclusively for the development of the high-end travel market of Japan. In a press statement, Lucioles reports that the event would provide worldwide participants with the opportunity “to tap into the lucrative but hard to penetrate Japanese market by presenting a forum of exceptional one-to-one business opportunities”. The invitation-only event is slated to be held from January 18-21, 2011 and will start with a full day conference followed by a three-day exhibition at the Tokyo International Forum. One free day in Tokyo is included in the package to allow participants to experience the city.

Espoused for being an event of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) brings together the world’s most sought after destinations, ultra-luxurious accommodation, elite transportation and unique travel experiences, showcased for the most discerning Asian luxury travel buyer. Such events are usually by invitation only and offer luxury travel providers the opportunity to reach Asia Pacific’s VIP Buyers. Shanghai, China is in line to host the event in June 2010 coming after equally hosting this year’s event. Asia Luxury Travel Market is a registered trade mark of Reed Exhibitions Limited.

Japan Journeys is the first tour operator in the country set to offer a specialist gastronomic tour of Japan. This comes in the wake of news that Tokyo has leaped ahead of Paris as the city with the most Michelin-starred restaurants, precipitating the tour operator to run its first ever Gourmet Tour of Japan starting in May 2010.

The latest edition of the Michelin guide to Tokyo reveals that the city now has 11 three-star restaurants, with the city as a whole boasting over 260 Michelin stars. Japan Journey is thus set to offer a ten-day itinerary that will include a cookery class in Tokyo, as well as a tour of a sake brewery, a visit to the biggest fish market in the world and the opportunity to sample some of the world’s best cooking at Tokyo’s Michelin-starred restaurants. Travelers with Japan Journeys will in this regard get to experience firsthand why Tokyo was voted the newly crowned gastronomic capital of the world by participating in a cooking class in the city, trying a traditional o-bento and visiting the city’s best ramen noodle bars. The tour also takes in Kyoto and Nara, giving travelers the chance to take a trip on Japan’s famous Bullet Train and attend a Sumo Tournament.

Already a growing interest in gastronomy tourism is gaining ground in the Asia region as explored in a cross-national study by Hurng and Tsai* where they explored the contents of the cuisine and gastronomy websites of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, analyzing the techniques used to introduce and promote these East Asian tourist destinations’ cuisine and food culture. Specifically, the researchers examined the capacity of government websites to introduce and advertise traditional and local foods, restaurants, gastronomic tours, recipes and culinary cultures (including table manners and other dining customs). They also looked more generally at culinary tourism marketing strategies, including the use of restaurant guides and certifications.

The scholars found that the content of government tourism websites is very important for promoting a tourist destination’s exciting cuisine and food culture. These websites help to shape a country’s, region’s or locality’s culinary-cultural image; and they create a virtual experience for culinary tourists.

Australian arrivals to Japan during the month of October increased 9.3% on 2008 figures according to a preliminary report released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The total Australian arrivals for the period were 19,900 compared with 18,200 for the same period last year.

The JNTI attributes the rise in the number to factors associated with the appreciation of the Australian dollar against the yen, special airfare sales, and an increase in media promotions targeting the Australian market. Furthermore, with the launch of the Visit Japan Year 2010 Campaign, a marketing effort aimed at increasing travelers to Japan and achieving Japan’s goal of 10 million international visitors by 2010, JNTO is optimistic that Australian arrivals will continue to increase, especially with Japan’s ski season scheduled to begin soon. Indeed the Australian dollar has been making a steady recovery with one dollar now worth around 80 yen compared to 60 yen at the same time last year.

The figures released by JNTO are based on arrivals of Australian passport holders and include business, leisure, and stopover visitors. Australia remains the sixth major Japan inbound market ahead of the UK, Thailand, Canada and France and behind South Korea, China, Taiwan, USA and Hong Kong.

An online survey conducted by Apple World on the year-end and New Year travel plans reveal positive intentions among the Japanese to make a trip this year. The survey results point towards a strong indication among the Japanese to have more positive intentions to travel this year than last.
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Tourism Australia staged an event at the Shibuya 109 Studio in Tokyo to introduce a visiting team of “Aussie Oji (Prince)” in sync with its “Aussie Oji Campaign” intended for the purpose of providing Japanese tourists, especially the market-leading women in their twenties and thirties, with opportunities to mix with friendly and upbeat Australians.
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Efforts are now being made to enhance the promotion of human exchange between Japan and Sweden through the introduction of Swedish lifestyle through music, design works, and cuisine. This was revealed during a travel seminar themed, “Destination New Sweden” that was hosted by the Embassy of Sweden and the Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB) in Tokyo.
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A research conducted by Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) reveals that the lack of signboards, maps, and street signs translated in foreign languages is indeed the main constraint faced by majority of foreign visitors to the country.
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Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum’s “The Habsburg – Treasures of the Hapsburg Monarchy” exhibition intends to lure Japanese visitors to the country by providing visitors opportunities to enjoy the geographical spread of the Habsburg Monarchy. This was revealed by the Managing Director of Vienna Tourist Board, Nobert Kettner, in Tokyo recently. The exhibition is part of the commemoration of the 140th jubilee of the friendship treaty between Japan and Austria and will be taking place at The National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo until December 24 and then later in Kyoto from January 6 to March 14 at Kyoto National Museum.
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Japan’s national carrier, JAL, has confirmed discontinuation of operations on 8 international and 8 domestic routes, as well as 1 cargo route. Flight frequency on 2 international routes is also expected to be reduced. The total effect of these changes is a trim down of 61, 91 and 3 weekly return flights in the international, domestic and cargo networks respectively. Within the three fiscal half-years of April 2009 to September 2010, reductions and suspensions are to be carried out on a total of 13 international, 15 domestic and 2 cargo routes, along with the closure of 4 overseas and 2 domestic offices.
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Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) released preliminary estimates of Japanese outbound travelers for the month of September indicating a 15.3% growth of up to 1.58 million, bringing the year-to-date total to 11,511,000, albeit down 4.8% to the same period last year. The two-digit growth in outbound travelers was witnessed for the first time in over four years, essentially since April 2005. JNTO attributes the growth to three key factors namely a renewed sense of value of overseas travel emanating from temporary suspension of oil surcharge after June this year, the appreciation in the value of the Japanese yen, and demand triggered by the Japanese Silver Week holiday in September.
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Australia remains the country that most people have on their wish list to visit but the Obama effect has seen the United States earn the coveted top spot for the first time in the fifth annual FutureBrand Country Brand Index (CBI). Australia fell to number three, with New Zealand hot on its heels in fourth position.
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Australia has been chosen as the perfect destination for the rookie Japanese overseas traveler because the country has only a few hours’ time difference to Japan, precipitated by a good travel season during summer. This initiative has been mooted by Kanto Regional Sales Administration Group of H.I.S. and started to promote its Australian tour campaign for first timers on October 19.
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Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has framed its budgetary request for the fiscal year 2010, earmarking JPY25.6 billion (USD 283 million) for tourism, 4.1 times the amount appropriated this year. The rise in tourism-related budgetary allocation relates to the country’s effort at scaling up targets set for foreign visitors, namely, the goals of 20 million arrivals in 2016, 25 million in 2019, and ultimately 30 million in the future, from the previous set goal of 20 million in 2020.
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The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has announced its intention to allocate a bigger portion of its budget in 2010 to travel-related industries for the Japanese market. This plan was unveiled by the Vice President of CTC International, Charles McKee, and the General Manager of Japan at CTC, Anthony Rippingale. The total budget allocated by CTC for the Japanese market remains unchanged in terms of Japanese yen, but the amount appropriated to the trade has increased to one third of the total from a quarter in 2009.
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Japan, Korea and China have agreed to a joint cooperation in tourism administration. This was revealed in a joint communiqué by representatives of the three countries at the 4th Meeting of Tourism Ministers convened at Nagoya and Takayama on October 18. The meeting equally dealt with measures against travel impediments including impacts of a renewed insurgence of influenza, promotion of tourism linked with international events like the Shanghai Expo 2010, and simplification of visa issuance, all aimed at paving the way for an advent of “grand tourism era in East Asia”.
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The Japanese Tourist Board (JTB) has announced plans strived at reorganize its inbound travel unit in order to strengthen and streamline business operations. JTB Global Marketing and Travel Inc. (JTBGMT) has in this regard been identified to play a leading role in the restructuring process, collaboration with JTB Asia Tourist Corp. (JTBATC), the latter which specializes in inbound business from Asia.
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Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) has announced plans to set the year 2010 as the “Visit Japan Year”. In this regard, the Agency has started comprehensive promotions toward the goal of attracting 10 million foreign visitors to Japan. Given that the circumstances in which numbers of inbound travelers have slumped have been on account of the current global economic crisis and appreciated value of the Japanese yen.
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In efforts to further lure Japanese tourists to Austria, food tourism is set to become the next themed promotions after cultural tourism, with Austrian wine constituting one of the major food culture attractions. This was revealed by the Federal Minister of Economy, Family and Youth of the Republic of Austria, Reinhold Mitteriehner, during a press conference held by a mission of Austrian businesspeople who are visiting Japan to commemorate the 140th anniversary of an establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
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A survey conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) in August reveals that people’s awareness of the Agency grew to 62.5%, up 26.7 points from the last survey undertaken in October last year. The survey on “Government Policy of Tourism Nation and JTA” further highlights that in general, the Japanese locals do not have the correct knowledge of the Agency’s role given that only 55.5% of respondents knew it by name but not by function compared to 7.0% who correctly comprehended its activities.
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The confirmation by Japan Airlines over the launch of its new restructuring plan is indication of its “guarantee” that the airline was not going under as envisaged. Urging the industry to keep selling JAL tickets, the airline says that it will be completely re-hauled with the support of the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
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Japan Airlines (JAL) has reportedly called off its current talks with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. The loss making Japanese national carrier has been discussing a possible cash injection of USD 300m. No reason has so far been given regarding the move. The move by JAL come after it sought the new Democratic Party government in Japan for public money to tide it over its financial crisis.
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Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) will consider a breakup of the company along with a range of other options, as the ailing carrier faces pressure from lenders and the government alike to turn around its operations. Executives from JAL are scheduled to meet with Transport Minister, Seiji Maehara, to discuss plans to straighten out the unprofitable company. The transport ministry is supervising the rehabilitation of JAL, which has already received three government bailouts since 2001.
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A survey undertaken by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) on travel trend from the end of July to the middle of August found that overall, the diffusion index (DI) of travel market improved from the last survey both in overseas and domestic travels. The DI is an indicator that shows how pervasive any particular business sentiment is in the market. According to the findings, the Japanese overseas travel market showed signs of a “slow recovery” aided by removal of oil surcharges and subdued rampancy of H1N1 swine flu influenza virus coupled by demand in travel due to the long September holiday week.
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Shares of Japan Airlines Corp. surged amid speculation that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are vying to buy stakes in the money-losing carrier. Under a major restructuring plan, Japan’s national carrier is looking to raise 250 billion yen (USD 2.8 billion) from banks, investment funds and airlines including Delta. With the news, JAL stock soared almost 8% to 176 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, beating a sharp slump in the overall market. The Nikkei 225 stock average however tumbled 2.3% to 10,202.06 as the dollar fell to a seven-month low against the yen.
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Switzerland Tourism is striving to increase the repeat traffic by attracting FIT with many of the country’s tourism promotions planned for next year will focus on this travel group. According to the Regional Director Asia, Switzerland Tourism, Roger Zbinden, within this promotional concept, Switzerland Tourism will endeavor to boost FIT as the 2010 objective for the Japanese travel market.
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In an effort to create new demand, and uplift the level of professionalism in the overseas travel industry, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) intends to organize several overseas study tours over the year. These trips will forms part of the human resource development program toward the “next step for growth” outlined in its business plan for the fiscal 2009.
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A growing number of Japanese consumers showing more interest in moderately priced tours on nearby, short-haul destinations brought Japanese major tour wholesalers to step up efforts in attracting more female consumers or the so-called OL (office ladies).
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The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) recorded 291,200 Japanese tourists in July, ending 18 consecutive months of decline. Considered the first increase since December 2007, the 4.44% rise in Japanese arrivals is believed to be brought on by strong promotions and introduction of China-bound products aimed powerfully at the women’s market which helped fuel bookings by double and triple-digit levels from July to September.
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Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) is set to request JPY 7,208 million (EUR 54 million) for it’s 2010 budget, up 14% from this year allocation. The Agency, while slashing general administrative expenses by 1% to 2,270 million Yen (EUR 17 million), seeks to allocate JPY 4,939 million (EUR 37 million), up 23%, to three of its envisaged major projects namely that’s of increasing foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million, developing world-class tourist destinations in Japan, and improving conditions and environments for spurring travel demand to the country.
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Japan Tourist Board (JTB), Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT), Nippon Travel Agency (NTA), and JALPAK Travel have announced their optimism in recording favorable customer estimates during the current spring/summer season. These optimistic estimates, the aforementioned travel industry players note, will be comparable to or exceeding that of last year after suffering from setbacks in customer numbers in May and June due to impacts related to the H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak.
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The JAL Group has sought the approval of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) to lift the international fuel surcharge imposed on passenger tickets of Japan Airlines (JAL). The fuel surcharge on international tickets of the Japanese carrier was introduced in reply to the rise of jet fuel prices in 2005. Read the rest of the article…

The mold of traditional tourism marketing campaigns has been broken as the factors determining a traveler’s destination choice is no longer limited to history, natural beauty, or shopping. Visitor safety has emerged as a major factor in the travel decision-making process of travelers given the emergence of external threats that pose risks to their well-being. As defined by the UN World Tourism Organization, these external threats include terrorism, civil unrest, the outbreak of infectious diseases, and severe weather disturbances. Read the rest of the article…

According to the latest survey by Visa, travel remains the top personal passion of the Asia’s affluent consumers as personal interests continue to be driven by new sights, tastes, and sounds. As indicated by study, one-off big purchases are less vulnerable to economic fluctuations hence passions are long-term pursuits that will most likely outlast the current financial crisis. Read the rest of the article…

The latest findings from the ITB World Travel Trends Report reveal the growing trend among Asian tourists to travel more within Asia as the global recession worsens in the coming months. As it is, travelers from the region’s traditional tourist-generating powerhouses, Japan and South Korea, have already reduced their number of trips and many more are expected to do so in 2009. And though the emerging markets of China and India will continue to offer hope for outbound travel from Asia Pacific, many travelers from these two countries have also cut back on their trips and plan to continue doing so should the economy deteriorate further. Read the rest of the article…

Japanese overnights in Vienna last January 2009 showed a substantial growth of 5.2% compared to the decline of 9.1% last year for the same period. According to Michael Duscher, Director of Overseas Markets for the Austrian National Tourist Office, the first two months of 2008 reflected the bleak market environment at the time with the high rate of the Euro and soaring fuel surcharges. In contrast, 2009 promises the resurgence of the Japanese market to Vienna as the value of the Japanese Yen grows stronger thus encouraging Japanese citizens to travel once again. Read the rest of the article…

The latest air travel figures for January 2009 from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reveal the continuous decline in international passenger demand. Compared to January 2008, passenger demand fell further by 5.6% following the drop in December 2008 of 4.6%. The decline marks the fifth consecutive month of contraction. Load factor also fell to 72.8%. According to IATA Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, the worst is yet to come as the industry is in a crisis worldwide with all regions, save for the Middle East, reporting declines in passenger demand. Read the rest of the article…

The major slump in Japanese outbound travel in the past five years has prompted several of the country’s international and domestic carriers to seek government financial aid. The request was made by the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan, chaired by Haruka Nishimatsu, on behalf of Japan Airlines Corp, the biggest carrier in Japan, All Nippon Airways Co. along with other domestic airlines, and presented to the Japanese Transport Minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko. However, the request did not specify a figure for the financial aid. Read the rest of the article…

Japan’s second largest carrier, All Nippon Airways (ANA), posted a net loss of JPY 12.6 billion for the last quarter of 2008 of the fiscal year through March. As a result, ANA expects to lose money for 2009 given that the financial slowdown worldwide has hit the Japanese demand for international travel. Compared to the same quarter a year earlier, the Japanese carrier had a net profit of JPY 12.5 billion. Read the rest of the article…

Japan Airlines conducted a successful biofuel test flight last January 30 using a sustainable biofuel refined mainly from the energy crop, camelina. The demonstration flight from Tokyo used a JAL Boeing 747-300 aircraft with no passengers or freight and lasted for nearly one and a half hours. The biofuel test flight by Japan Airlines is the first of its kind among Asian airlines. Read the rest of the article…

In a bid to promote tourism, Taiwan proposes to reopen the domestic Taipei Airport for international flights with the launch of two round-trip flights daily to and from Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Agencies from Taiwan and Japan will meet in February for the amendment of the aviation agreement between the two countries. According to a senior official with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), the proposal will be raised at the meeting. Read the rest of the article…

Starting January 14, 2009 Japan Airlines will offer its passengers codeshare flights from London (Heathrow) to Lisbon and to four other destinations in the United Kingdom (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle) on board British Airways. The latest codeshare agreement will provide smooth connections with minimal transit time from Lisbon and the UK cities onto daily services operated by Japan Airlines between London (Heathrow) and Japan. The new codeshare flights between the two Oneworld alliance members will connect Japan to a total of 31 cities in Europe on 43 routes. Read the rest of the article…

Japan Airlines (JAL) and Air Nippon Airways (ANA), two of Japan’s largest airlines, plan to trim down their flight services in order to bring down operating costs as a consequence of rising fuel prices. JAL will close down 12 domestic and five international routes, at the same time, reduce frequencies on five other routes. ANA is expected to cut down services on 10 routes, which includes two international routes. The flight cuts are expected to generate savings of up to JPY 13 billion for JAL and about JPY 3 billion for ANA, annually. Read the rest of the article…

The 2008 World Tourism Congress and Travel Fair of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA-WTF) is set for September 18 to 21 at the Tokyo Big Sight. Held annually since 2003, the event is heralded as one of the largest travel fairs in Asia. The JATA-WTF is a must attend for travel trade professionals interested in the Asian and Japanese travel markets. Read the rest of the article…

Beginning June 3, the ‘JL’ code of Japan Airlines (JAL) will be placed on non-stop international flights operated by Finnair between Helsinki and three Japanese cities namely Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. The expansion of the bilateral code share agreement of the two carriers will connect Japan to 25 cities in Europe. Read the rest of the article…

Travel bookings at Japan’s eight major wholesalers showed mixed results based on the latest monthly survey conducted by Weekly Travel Journal between March 29 to April 9. Only three of the eight major wholesalers posted year-on-year gains in May bookings owing mainly to the Golden Week travel demand. For June, only Club 21 and Mach/Best Tours’ show year-on-year growth in reservations. However, officials at both agencies reveal the gains only replicate the slow-moving performance of the same month for the previous year. Read the rest of the article…

Booking levels are expected to return to the same levels as last year in May with Hawaii, Guam-Saipan, and Asian destinations posting the highest gains while reservations for USA-Canada will remain the same. A survey conducted by the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) among the top six travel wholesalers reveal that consumer reservations will take off to nearly the same level from a year ago in May. The increase in bookings is fueled in part by the drop in tour prices and airfares during the post-Golden week season – a normal occurrence after the peak travel period. The combined sales of JTB Corp., Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT), Nippon Travel Agency (NTA), Hankyu Express International (HEI), Jalpak, and ANA Sales make up about 40% of all sales of major travel agencies in the country. Read the rest of the article…

The upcoming golden week will see a 5.6% decrease in passenger traffic for Japanese carriers particularly to long haul destinations owing to the poor alignment of national holidays mixed with the weekdays during this period. For this season, the number of passengers booked with the JAL Group and the ANA Group for the period between April 25th and May 6th totals 252,951 with an average load factor reaching 63.3%, indicating a drop of 2.2 percentage points. The number of available seats also went down by 2.2% to 399,868 compared to the same period last year. Read the rest of the article…

Major Japanese wholesalers are set to launch travel campaigns that would counter the expected sluggish bookings for April as a result of the unfavorable combination and succession of holidays for the Golden Week holiday season between late April and May. Unlike in 2007, when people were able to take a nine-consecutive day holiday by taking the first two weekdays off in May, consumers will need to take an additional three or four days-off to enjoy the same length for the holiday this year. There is also no secondary departure peak period in April unlike a year ago, says Look JTB, which intends to introduce special products earlier to boost demand, while I’ll/AVA plans to launch price-oriented products to all destination areas. Read the rest of the article…

As part of action plan for the accomplishment of 20 million outbound travelers in 2010, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) is studying the feasibility of boosting travel demand across the nation by selecting target destinations and operating hundreds of charter flights to these places. Read the rest of the article…