JAPAN. Target the senior traveller – that’s the advice from leading Japanese travel market analysts Travel Journal International (TJI) Online* amid a continuing surge in outbound travel by those in their 60s and 70s.
TJI noted in a report this week: “The start of the exodus of baby-boomers from corporate life in 2007 appeared to have spurred travel for those in their 60s and 70s, a trend that is expected to grow even more over the next few years.”
Final 2007 statistics from the Ministry of Justice compiled by the Japan National Tourist Organization revealed that the number of travellers in their 60s rose by +6.89% to 2,256,968, an all-time high, topping the previous record of 2,111,469 set in 2006.
“With the exception of 2003 when SARS and the start of the Iraq War prompted a major downturn in travel from Japan, travel by those in their 60s has been growing each year,” TJI said.
The sector’s market share climbed from 11.05% in 2001 to 13.05% in 2007. And the sustained exodus of baby-boomers over the next few years will continue the rise in importance of this important demographic segment, TJI concluded.
A major 2007 survey by JTB Corp revealed that a combined 50.2% of respondents in this age group had already made a trip, or were considering or actually planning one. Both those in their 60s and 70s have created a sector known as “˜Sunset’, those still able to travel with friends and family while they remain free of health problems or financial issues.
One of the fastest-rising trends among senior travellers is long-stay travel (more than two weeks), particularly to destinations with warmer climates such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, where the cost of living is low and the infrastructure can accommodate senior travellers, TJI said.
ROARING FORTIES
Solid growth was also seen for travellers in their 40s, fuelled partly by corporate and business travel, TJI noted. They posted a +2.35% rise to 3,215,630 in 2007, also the highest count ever. This age group generated a record high 18.59% share, making them the dominant group of outbound Japanese travellers.
Conversely, those in their 20s slipped -5.22% to 2,823,779 in 2007, marking a -20.3% plunge since 2001 and a market share of 16.3% compared with 21.9% six years earlier.
*Editor’s note: For the full report please visit http://tji/tjinet.co.jp. The Moodie Report works closely with TJI Online, the pre-eminent provider of information on the Japanese travel industry. Week in, week out, it provides timely and sharp analysis of the all-important Japanese travel market – international and domestic. It comes with our highest recommendation.
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