According to Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the estimated number of international travelers to Japan in Jul- 2019 was about 3.0 million (+5.6% from the previous year, and increase of around 159,000), recording the highest figure for July.
A record 31.2 million foreign tourists came to Japan in 2018. This was an 8.7% rise from the previous year and the highest figure recorded since statistics started being collected in 1964. The government's goal of reaching 40 million overseas visitors in 2020, when the Tokyo Olympics will be held, is picking up pace.
The 2019 performance across Sep-2019 to Nov-2019 will be influenced by Japan hosting the Rugby World Cup, which kicked-off last week with Japan defeating Russia. Twenty nations are competing for the world champions title, held by New Zealand for the past eight years after success in the New Zealand hosted finals in 2011 and retained in England in 2015.
Advanced flight bookings to Japan suggest rugby fans from across the competing nations will be on the ground in force to support their teams during this year's tournament, according to research by Travelport, a leading technology company serving the global travel industry.
"We know big sporting events often encourage people to travel and there is nothing like being in the stadium watching your team compete on the world stage," says Jason Clarke, chief commercial officer - Travel Partners at Travelport.
As part of its study, Travelport analysed Marketing Information Data Transfer (MIDT) booking data from all global distribution systems (GDS) to Japan, as of 12-Sep-2019 arriving from 18-Sep-2019 to 4-Nov-2019. The company then ran comparable data for the same period last year to identify trends.
Our QUESTION OF THE WEEK is... As eyes turn to Japan for the Rugby World Cup, which five performing nations will see the largest rise in support based on advanced flight bookings to the country?
JOIN IN THE FUN: Send your answers to: The Blue Swan Daily Content Team
We will be revealing the answers at the same time next week, when we will be setting another question.
Last week we asked… Hotels across Central and South America are seeing mixed performance, but what are the ten biggest brands across the region?
Latest monthly data from benchmarking specialist STR has highlighted that the hotel stock across Central and South America is dominated by Accor, followed by Marriott International, according to census data from STR. It is no surprise that Accor brands are among the most prevalent across the region. Ibis dominates with more than double the number of rooms (22,715) of its nearest rival, the Ibis Budget brand (9,553). Mercure (8,098), Sheraton (6,580) and Novotel (5,855) make up the rest of the top five, while Intercity (5,535), Ibis Styles (5,257), Wyndham (5,004), Holiday Inn by IHG (4,997) and Radisson (4,576) are ranked from six to ten.