Japan Monthly Activity Report

Transcription

1 Japan Monthly Activity Report for Visit California June 2013 Prepared by AVIAREPS Marketing Garden Ltd. 1. ECONOMY AND TRAVEL INDUSTRY UPDATES A. Japan Economic Update The Japanese Cabinet office upgraded its economic assessment in June from picking up slowly to picking up steadily, and raised its outlook on industrial production, exports, corporate profits and the employment situation. Private consumption continues to climb, and prices are finally moving upward pointing to the end of deflation. As a result, the Cabinet also downplayed the risks in the income and employment situations, but maintained that Japan could still be affected by slowdowns in overseas economies. For the first time in four years, consumer prices in Tokyo increased, up 0.1% in May. Movements in Tokyo generally foreshadow nationwide price movements in the coming months. In addition, average consumer household spending increased 1.5% to 304,382 yen, marking the fourth monthly increase. Meanwhile, the average income of salaried households increased 2.9 percent to 479,854 yen, the second consecutive increase. The Japanese Consumer Confidence Index gauges consumer sentiment for the coming six months: 100 being the most optimistic and 0 the most pessimistic. Overall confidence climbed up 1.5 points to 46 in May, the highest level since May All components increased overall livelihood jumped 1.6 points to 43.5, employment and willingness to buy durable goods both increased 1.5 to 50.7 and 47.1, respectively. Income growth went up 1.2 points to Businesses expressed optimism as well, as their evaluation of current conditions ticked up one point to 94.8 in April against a 2005 base of 100. This is the third straight increase, thanks to the weaker yen, soaring stock prices and increased production. 1

2 B. Japanese Yen Exchange Rate The yen increased in value against other currencies as investors feared stock prices had climbed too much, combined with signs of an end to the US Federal Reserve stimulus. On June 17 th, the yen had climbed as high as to the US dollar, but by June 29th exchange rates stood at yen to the US dollar and yen to the euro. Below are average exchange rates for the past six months. Source: OANDA C. Japan Overseas Travel Trends Progression in the number of outbound Japanese travelers: Monthly Totals % Change January 1,331,144 1,360, % February 1,572,587 1,430, % March 1,737,033 1,652, % April 1,410,963 1,237,000* % May 1,431,204 1,262,000* % Source: Japan National Tourism Organization *estimate 2

3 Search engine Google reported that between January 1 st and June 15 th, it has seen 33% more travel related searches than last year, and for the first time ever, more than half of searches were on smartphones. This emphasizes the importance of not only a top-notch Japanese website, but one that is optimized for mobile browsers as well. Google also provided rankings for the most searched overseas destinations, as well as types of travel Rank Destination 2012 Rank 1 South Korea 1 2 Hawai i 2 3 Guam 4 4 Taiwan 3 5 Singapore Unranked 6 Thailand 6 7 Italy 5 8 Australia 7 9 Turkey 8 10 Saipan Unranked 2013 Rank Travel Type 2012 Rank 1 Solo travel 1 2 Honeymoon 3 3 Graduation 4 4 Couple 5 5 Women only Unranked 6 Family Unranked 7 Student woman solo 9 9 With baby Unranked 10 Employee 7 Overseas booking website AB-road.net conducted a survey of its users to determine their outlook on flying internationally on Low Cost Carriers (LCCs). Out of all respondents, 87% were familiar with at least one LCC, led by Peach Aviation. 14% had actually flown internationally on an LCC, and out of these passengers, 83% said they were satisfied. Except for the areas in Northeastern Japan directly hit by the natural disasters in 2011, inbound tourism to Japan has recovered, with international arrivals soaring 34.6% to 8.37 million pax. Market research firm Timetric predicts Japan inbound travel will expand to 11 million by 2017 as the economic situation improves and Japan continues its plans to improve accessibility. Timetric also estimates Japan outbound travel will expand to 21.9 million in As inbound tourism improves, other carriers will want to fly to Japan, which would boost outbound capacity accordingly. 3

4 D. Agency and Transportation Trends The Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) released its quarterly Diffusion Index (DI). The DI is calculated when JATA asks its members about their performance: a score of 100 means all agents think business is great, while -100 means they believe business is bad. Other than incentives, which showed no change, the DI improved for all types of travel, most notably families, students and female office workers, which is likely tied to lower fuel surcharges and the slight weakening of the yen. Demographic April - June 2013 July-September 2013 Change Honeymooners Families Female Office Workers Students Seniors 60 and over Incentives No change Business, Inspections Overall (all agents) The DI for all destinations improved as well, with Europe and Hawai i returning to positive territory. Still, demand for China and South Korea is expected to remain soft for the foreseeable future. Destination April - June 2013 July-September 2013 Change US Mainland, Canada Hawaii Micronesia Europe Oceania China Asia South Korea JATA also surveyed the seven major package tour companies (JTB, Kinki Nippon Tourist, Nippon Travel Agency, Hankyu Express International, H.I.S., JALPAK and ANA Sales) to determine their booking results for the July to September quarter. Hawai i is the most popular destination, but the ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia show the most robust growth, up as much as 98% in September. As Japan remains in territorial disputes with China and South Korea, long haul destinations continue to gain market share, with demand for Europe, North and South America growing every month. Both Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways will lower their fuel surcharges roughly 10% for flights ticketed between August 1 st and September 30 th. Overseas carriers are already following suit. The following are the surcharges per person per sector. 4

5 Japan Airlines From Japan to: Until July 31 st From August 1 st Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania 23,500 yen ($237) 21,000 yen ($212) Hawaii, India, Indonesia 15,000 yen ($151) 13,500 yen ($136) Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand 11,500 yen ($116) 10,500 yen ($106) Guam, Palau, Philippines, Vietnam 7,000 yen ($71) 6,500 yen ($66) China, Hong Kong, Taiwan 6,000 yen ($60) 5,500 yen ($55) South Korea 2,200 yen ($22) 2,000 yen ($20) All Nippon Airways From Japan to: Until July 31 st From August 1 st Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania 23,500 yen ($274) 21,000 yen ($274) Hawaii, India, Indonesia 15,000 yen ($175) 13,500 yen ($175) Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand 11,500 yen ($134) 10,500 yen ($134) Guam, Philippines, Saipan, Vietnam 7,000 yen ($82) 6,500 yen ($82) China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan 6,000 yen ($70) 5,500 yen ($70) South Korea 2,200 yen ($26) 2,000 yen ($26) In Yokohama city, Japan s largest travel agent JTB has established its first ever branch focused on family travel, such as mother and daughter or three generation travel. The branch features larger tables for sales discussions with families, and a camera on the outside wall that captures passing customers and shows an image as if they were in Hawai i. JTB has also entered into an agreement to launch a new type of travel service with Japan s largest mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo. JTB will provide the travel products and knowhow, and DoCoMo will provide the customer base as well as maps and other personalized information delivery service. The agreement paves the way for selling JTB on DoCoMo smartphones 5

6 2. ACTIVITY UPDATE A. Travel Trade Marketing A-1. Major Sales Calls and Activities Visit California Japan conducted sales calls to the following key members of the Japanese travel trade in June. Kinki Nippon Tourist: Mr. Ota, Manager, Chiba Educational Travel Branch VC Japan met Mr. Ota and discussed the possibility to further promote educational trips in California. The company handles an overseas school excursion trips nationwide and is interested in conducting one featuring Los Angeles and Orange County. The Japan office provided necessary information. World Air Sea Service: Mr. Furusawa, Sales Manager VC Japan met Mr. Furusawa and provided necessary information on the special events in California. The company specializes in producing special interest tours and is interested in featuring the New Year events in San Francisco and San Diego in The Japan office also introduced the Japan office of San Francisco Travel Association and San Diego Tourism Authority who will assist them as necessary. JTB Corporate Sales: Mr. Kuwasaki, Department VC Japan met Mr. Kuwasaki of JTB Corporate Sales and provided necessary information and collaterals for their planned California tour products this summer. The company sells an educational tour where only children between 9 and 14 years old participate. The tour will be a maximum of 14 days and highlight activities such as home-stay, school participation, day trip to Disneyland Resort, etc. California Online Expert Program As of June, VC Japan has seen a total of 165 registered travel trade applicants. B. Public Relations B-1. Media Monitoring (clippings and publicity calendar) During the month of June, Visit California Japan secured PR coverage in a total 99 of publications/websites/programs, with an estimated total circulation of 129,993,576 and an estimated advertising value of US$8,198,118. 6

7 B-2. VCA Japan Website Below are some of the major access statistics from June For more details, please refer to the Google Analytics report. Number of page views: 90,380 Number of Unique Visitors: 25,217 The most-used keyword remains サンディエゴ (San Diego in Japanese), followed by サンディエゴ観光 (San Diego sightseeing), カリフォルニア (California), and サンフランシスコ (San Francisco) Monthly page views for the last six months: Month Page Hits* Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun TOTAL Daily Average: 3187,7 Monthly Average: 96582,7 B-3. Japan E-Newsletter PC E-Newsletter: Visit California Japan produced the June E-newsletter with the following contents especially prepared for Japanese readers: TV program World Summer Resort broadcasted in June 15 and 22 on TBS network Car Free in LA Watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley Discover the awesome power of Mavericks, surfing north of Half Moon Bay Safari in San Diego Dive into unknown California (Channel Islands) The full contents are available at: VC Japan translated, edited and distributed the e-newsletter to 15,837 travel agent, media and consumer subscribers on June 14 th. Mobile Phone Newsletter: VC Japan also produced the June mobile phone newsletter about VC new TVCM broadcasting in UA and distributed it to 1,035 travel agent, media and consumer subscribers on June 14 th. 7

8 B-4. Media Exposure TV Program World Summer Resort TBS Network VC Japan identified a 30-minute variety TV program called World Summer Resort that features unique beaches around the world. The exposure featuring Los Angeles, Catalina Island, La Jolla and San Diego was broadcasted two weeks in a row, June 15 th and 22 nd, for a total 1 hour exposure for California. VC Japan allocated approx. $11,000 from our of communcation budget to support the land coordination fee. The estimated Ad value is $8,614,736. OZ Magazine & OZ Mall (Circulation: 87,113 ) VC Japan identified an opportunity for California in OZ Magazine, an influential magazine for women in their late 20s to 30s. Coverage also appears on OZ Magazine s dedicated online site called OZ Mall. By integrating Crystal Geyser to tie-in with this project to maximize synergy, VC Japan succeeded in implementing the project with a less investment. The coverage featuring Mt. Shasta area appeared on June 12 th issue and the online coverage uploaded on the same date. PINK RIDER (Circulation: 50,000 ) VC Japan identified an opportunity of featuring southern California in a new female lifestyle magazine called PINK RIDER in depth for 40 color pages. The shooting was successfully completed and the coverage appeared on June 21 st featuring the coastline beach cities between Los Angeles and San Diego. C. Inquiry Handling Main inquiries from the travel trade, media and consumers: Collateral requests for California maps and posters. Information about sport event, national parks, theme parks, etc. Brochure requests from the travel trade and media: Wintec Japan : 5 California maps Toptour: 135 California posters Nippon Travel Agency: 30 California posters H.I.S.: 20 California maps 8