Posted on: Saturday, December 13, 2003

Holiday visitors from Japan rise

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

Fewer Japanese plan to travel from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3, but two locations where their numbers will increase are Europe and Hawai'i, according to a survey by Japanese travel agency JTB.

While Japanese overseas travelers are expected to decline 6.5 percent, the number projected to travel to Hawai'i for the holiday season will increase 4.3 percent over last year.

Hawai'i will draw 73,000 around the Christmas and New Year's holidays, up from 70,000 last year. The state comes in second behind Europe, which will attract an estimated 85,000 Japanese.

"People feel Hawai'i is a safer destination," said Yujiro Kuwabara, general manager of tour planning and marketing in Hawai'i for JTB. Hawai'i is also benefiting from Japanese travelers who prefer closer destinations this year because of a shorter holiday season, he said.

Luxury hotels in Hawai'i are often fully booked months before the holidays with some guests returning every year.

At Halekulani in Waikiki, a popular hotel among Japanese, rooms for the holidays have been 100 percent reserved for nearly a year, said Peter Shaindlin, chief operating officer.

"We've got this wonderful, loyal following," Shaindlin said.

The JTB holiday forecast is welcome news for the Japanese tourism industry in Hawai'i.

Japanese visitor arrivals fell 12.4 percent for the year through October compared with the same period a year ago. Travel from Japan has been slowly recovering from large declines earlier in 2003 owing to the war with Iraq and SARS breakouts. In October, Japanese visitor arrivals were down 4.7 percent from the same month last year.

University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization economists said in a recent report that the recovery in Japanese visitor arrivals will "continue at a modest pace."

"A stronger yen will help bolster Japanese travel here, but weak overall consumer spending dampens hope for a Japanese resurgence here," the economists said.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.