https://lnkd.in/gk4YTDyu
#Tourism #Domestic #Outbound #Inbound #HIS #JTB
The Japan Tourism Agency recently released operational data for February 2024 from 43 major domestic travel companies and organizations in Japan, showing that the main trends have not changed significantly from the past. In this brief discussion, Haize Capital will talk about the booming trend in domestic travel among Japanese nationals and the influence of major players post-pandemic.
1. The decline in group tours is clear: In February, major Japanese travel agencies recorded total sales of outbound, inbound, and domestic travel products at 102.5 billion yen, 11.7 billion yen, and 172.6 billion yen, respectively. The proportion of group tours accounted for approximately 9.7%, 0.7%, and 29.4%, respectively. Compared to January, where the proportions were 10.2%, 1.1%, and 28.3%, the differences in outbound and domestic travel were relatively minor. Notably, foreigners traveling to Japan typically do not prefer group tours, with the average in 2023 around 1%, which significantly dropped to 0.7% in February, making group tours almost negligible in presence.
2. Domestic travel holds a significant share: When categorizing Japan's travel products into three main areas—Japanese outbound travel, foreign inbound travel, and domestic travel for Japanese nationals—it's clear that domestic travel has recovered the fastest. In February, it reached 87.7% of the same period in 2019; it also had the highest output, with February's transaction amount of 172.6 billion yen being 68.4% higher than that of outbound travel. If domestic travel companies can target Japanese customers as a potential market, there is significant growth potential.
3. Giants excel in their fields: In February, the transaction volumes in Japan for Japanese outbound travel, foreign inbound travel, and domestic travel were 65.8%, 78.6%, and 87.7% of the same period in 2019, respectively. Looking at the self-reported February transaction data from the top five travel agencies, each has strengths well above the industry's recovery rate: HIS has the highest recovery in outbound travel sales at 72.1% of 2019 level among the top five; Kinki Holdings and Nippon Travel Agency have both exceeded their 2019 inbound travel sales, at 112.7% and 112.2%, respectively; and JTB, Hankyu Travel, and HIS have reached 115.9%, 98.9%, and 97.2% of their 2019 domestic travel sales, respectively.
