Japan Tourism Back on Track for 2012

December 07, 2011

After the tragic earthquake in northeast Japan in March this year, tourism in Japan has been showing strong signs of recovery in recent months.  

2011-2012 Country Brand Index – Japan Top for Tourism

FutureBrand has ranked Japan the number 1 country brand for tourism in its annual Country Brand Index (CBI). Japan was also ranked in the CBI top 10 for Quality of Life, Good for Business and Heritage and Culture.

CBI noted, 'Perhaps paradoxically, Japan leapt to number one in the tourism dimension and moved up five places in Quality of Life.

Japan has always been a strong country brand and enjoys enormous popularity as a destination for business and leisure.

While visitor figures dropped significantly between March and August 2011, decline is slowing against numbers for 2010 as we approach the end of the year.’ For a full report on the 2011-2012 Country Brand Index, click here.

Traveller interest in Japan hits highest levels for 2011

TripAdvisor research paints positive picture for Japan’s inbound tourism
 
In November, Tripadvisor research indicated that tourist interest in Japan is at its highest levels so far this year.*
 
Searches for Japan on TripAdvisor have been on the rise since hitting a low in May. In October, Japan searches hit their highest level of the year - and have recovered to the same level as they were at this time in 2010.**
 
A recent TripAdvisor survey also revealed that the vast majority of British travellers see no issue now in visiting to Japan – 80% of respondents said they would feel safe travelling to the country.***
 
“Japan is a beautiful country with plenty to offer the discerning traveller,” commented Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson.  “We’re happy to see that after such a tough time, tourism interest in the country has recovered and we hope that many travellers are currently planning their trips to Japan.”
 
For more information on Japan, visit www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g294232-Japan-Vacations.html

Prospects for 2012

“Visitor numbers from the UK to Japan were down 57% in April, but by October the gap had lessened to 9% down on 2010 numbers. The Asian market has been showing the fastest recovery, with visitors to Japan from Hong Kong and Taiwan having already bounced back into positive growth by month on 2010 figures. Within Europe, the United Kingdom is leading the way in picking back up the number of visitors to Japan and we are optimistic that by the April 2012 cherry blossom season we will see UK visitors to Japan recovering into positive figures. It is the most popular time to visit Japan and as many people cancelled April 2010 trips, we are hoping they’ll be rebooking for spring 2012.

We are very grateful that UK tour operators continued to sell Japan this year, despite knowing it would be tough, and that they have been keen to involve us in their events and marketing activities to promote Japan.  

The initial first few days after the earthquake was a very emotional and difficult time for all our staff. We were very moved by all the messages of support, concern and sympathy back in March and your ongoing support throughout what has been a tough year for Japan. We look forward to working with you all to send many people on fantastic holidays to Japan in 2012!

From all of us here at Japan National Tourism Organization’s London office we wish you a very happy holiday season and very best wishes for 2012,” said Kylie Clark, Head of PR & Marketing, Japan National Tourism Organization.

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Notes to Editors

FutureBrand assesses the strength of a country brand in much the same way as any other brand. They measure awareness, familiarity, preference, consideration, advocacy and active decisions to visit or interact with a place. For a detailed report on the results, click here.

*Based on worldwide TripAdvisor traffic figures
**Year-on-year comparisons (October 2010 v October 2011) show Japan’s TripAdvisor pages saw the same traffic levels in both time periods
***Survey carried out on 1,425 respondents in the UK in October 2011