Inbound foreign travel to Japan is booming. However, domestic travel isn’t doing so hot. The economy is playing a large factor – but so is overtourism at popular spots.
According to the government’s Japan Tourism Agency, domestic hotel stays this year only exceeded last year’s levels on two occasions: April (the country’s annual Golden Week holiday) and October, as people enjoyed the changing colors of the season. The overwhelming reason is that people just can’t afford it. The consumer price index for lodging has itself risen from 100 in 2020 to 134.3 today.
As we’ve discussed before, one factor driving up the cost of lodging is foreign tourism. The weak yen has meant that inbound tourists can stay longer and at more expensive locations. That’s driven up the general market costs for hotels. There are increasingly fewer locations with rooms available for less than 10,000 yen (USD $63) a night.
The lack of available rooms, says one expert, is driving consumers domestic travelers to focus more on day trips. However, some are curtailing even day trips to cities like Kyoto, as popular destinations like Nishiki Market in Kyoto are increasingly dominated by non-Japanese tourists. As we’ve documented before, that’s also making it harder for locals to get around.
This seems to be a universal feeling. An online poll with 3,977 respondents asked if they can feel the increase in the number of inbound tourists. A whopping 95.2% said they “feel it extremely.”
Comments on Yahoo! News Japan on this story exceeded 4,000 as of last look, indicating a high level of interest in the topic. Inbound tourism advisor Murayama Keisuke wrote that the business boom created by inbound tourism is a good thing – but that the government needs to address how it’s impacting Japanese citizens. “We should aim to create tourism spots that maximize economic benefit but also gratify all stakeholders.”
Many other commenters discussed how tourism is changing the feel of local neighborhoods. One highly-rated comment worried that, while the economic benefits of tourism are good, “the bubble’s gotta end sometime. This is Japan, and people need to keep top of mind that selling products that overlook locals and, if I might say, Japanese people is, in the end, not gonna end well.”
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One thing’s clear from this and similar stories recently: Japan’s long overdue for a wage hike. Indeed, one expert quoted by Sankei Shimbun says raising wages is the best way to encourage more domestic travel. Unfortunately, some Japanese business owners are bristling at that suggestion.
As for overtourism, one strategy the government’s pursuing is to entice inbound travelers to new destinations. As a tour operator ourselves, that’s something we fully support and encourage; we frequently encourage customers to try out other locations besides the “Big Three” cities, such as Ishikawa Prefecture, Morioka, Izumo, and Katsuyama.
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