Having picked up from the twin disasters in 2011, Japan now faces another problem, albeit a more welcomed one – that of too many tourists, too little infrastructure.
Recovery was the name of the game for Japan after the twin earthquake and tsunami disasters of 2011, when the number of overseas visitors slumped to 6.2 million.
In a sharp reversal of fortunes, Japan has since received an all-time high of 13.4 million foreign travellers in 2014, an impressive three million increase from the previous year.
The upbeat figures have continued into 2015, with a record 1.2 million foreign arrivals in January alone, a 29 per cent hike from the same month in 2014.
Japan’s inbound tourism sector benefited from a combination of positive factors: easier visa requirements for visitors from South-east Asian nations, an increase in flights operated by LCCs and additional duty-free shopping opportunities.
The single largest reason for last year’s record-setting figures, however, was the dramatic weakening of the yen, which has made Japan an affordable destination for vast numbers of middle-class travellers from Asia and farther afield.
Research by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) shows a 40 per cent increase in arrivals from South Korea that was in part driven by an increase in LCCs serving Japanese destinations.
Top market Taiwan was also up 20 per cent in 2013 to hit 2.8 million, while Chinese arrivals surged 83 per cent to reach 2.4 million.
Mamoru Kobori, senior executive director, JNTO, told TTG Asia that longhaul arrivals are similarly faring well, with the added advantage that visitors from North America and Europe tend to stay twice or thrice the duration of Asian tourists.
Australians too appear to have fallen head over heels for Japan’s skiing opportunities, while 2014 also saw a 35 per cent spike in arrivals from Spain, though the reasons are unclear.
To meet “positive demand” from longhaul travellers, All Nippon Airways added services from London, Paris, Vancouver and Frankfurt last year, in addition to a new direct flight to Munich, said Ryosei Nomura, a spokesman for the airline.
“We will be launching services from Haneda International Airport to Houston and Kuala Lumpur in the first half of 2015,” said Nomura. “We are also trying to take advantage of Japan’s geographic position to become the key transit point for travellers going between destinations in Asia and North America.”
Hiroyuki Seishi, a spokesman for the Japan Association of Travel Agents, has noted the “positive effect” of a weak yen on domestic travel, as more Japanese now take vacations closer to home.
On the other hand, the upsurge in visitor numbers, both domestic and international, has revealed a number of areas in which the domestic travel industry needs to up its game, including the provision of additional accommodation facilities to meet demand, more professional guides and interpreters, and extra signage in more languages.
“Our occupancy rate is at 100 per cent for a good part of this season because of the popularity of the cherry blossom season with both domestic and international travellers,” said Junko Kajihara, a spokeswoman at the 57-room Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo.
“Tokyo definitely needs more rooms, especially as we run up to the Olympic Games in 2020,” she said. “And that’s not just in the luxury, high-end sector of the market. The city needs more budget accommodation and business-type properties as well.”
Recent additions to Tokyo’s hotel landscape include the Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel and Hotel Unizo Ginza Ichome, while Aman Tokyo opened in late December last year.
Meanwhile, Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, Hotel Sunroute Ginza and Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Oshiage are due to open by this year-end.
The problem is often not just a shortage of rooms, James Mundy, head of marketing for UK-based InsideJapan Tours pointed out, but sometimes a lack of double beds – a particular problem for honeymooners.
“We have been taking groups to Japan for 15 years now, working with suppliers that range from the top international hotels to family-run ryokan, and we have seen a definite increase in the popularity of Japan as a destination,” he added.
“Right now, for example, it’s cherry blossom season in Japan and I have been trying to find a hotel room in Tokyo and it is proving impossible,” he said.
“That’s a testament to Japan’s popularity, but you would also think that there would be a hotel somewhere in a city the size of Tokyo.”
Another issue has been a lack of signage in foreign languages outside of major urban areas, although Mundy insists that travellers tend to see that as “all part of the experience.”
JNTO is aware of the issues that need to be addressed, said Kobori, and is trying hard to meet the government’s target of 20 million foreign visitors in 2020.
“We have so many visitors at present who now want to go to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka that the hotel room occupancy rate is running at 90 per cent at peak times of the year,” he said.
“What we want to do is to encourage more visitors to get away from that traditional route and go to less well-known parts of Japan,” he said.
“Japan has so many great and unique attractions that will appeal to foreign visitors and we feel it is just a case of letting them know about all the opportunities that are available.”
This article was first published in TTG Asia, April 10, 2015 issue, on page 4. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
