Voyager doomed by changing Japanese market
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Despite reports of steady growth, many residents aren't feeling it
'Fancy new buildings' keep job crews happy
When bloom's gone, you cultivate your market
By Glenn Scott
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ashley Thairathom is facing a change. For now, she sits in a ticket booth along Kewalo Basin selling sightseeing rides for Voyager Submarines.
"It's just too bad they're closing down," she says.
Her job, to a large degree, is falling victim to the changing consumer habits of Japanese tourists, who traditionally account for the majority of business on O'ahu's higher-priced attractions like sub rides and dinner cruises.
Danny Brennan, Voyager's operations director, says younger Japanese tourists familiar with the Islands no longer rely on the safety of pre-booked tours.
"The Japanese," he says, "have become very worldly and a little more independent in their traveling."
Visits by Japanese tourists are down slightly this year, according to state figures. Total arrivals were off 3.3 percent through April, compared with the same period in 2000.
There are other reasons for declining support from Japanese tourists. The yen has lost 10-15 percent of its buying power against the dollar in the past year. Higher hotel rates here are eating up more of visitors' vacation budgets. And a deteriorating economy at home has spawned a consumer shift toward lower-priced goods.
All that adds up to tighter conditions for the Islands' tourism industry, especially those catering to Japanese tourists.
Taka Kono, president of Japan Report, a market research firm, says the reality of the shifting behavior is that some attractions and restaurant sectors are oversupplied. Voyager, which competed against the larger Atlantis Submarines, was a victim of that trend.
For people like Thairathom, an oversupply means a sudden need to find a new job. Pausing at her booth recently as a company catamaran eased away on a dinner cruise, she says Voyager managers are helping to place many of the company's 70 workers in other positions with sister company Roberts Hawai'i.
Confident in the employment scene, Thairathom isn't fretting and says most co-workers aren't either. She's seeking a travel agent job.
"That's what I studied for," she says. "And travel agencies don't shut down. Everybody travels."
