JAPAN. JTB Corp, one of Japan’s leading travel agencies, has said reaction to the H1N1 virus (swine flu) has cost it around Â¥15.1 billion (US$156 million) in lost sales since the outbreak was first reported in late April. JTB’s news was reported by Travel Journal International (TJI) Online*.
JTB reported tour cancellations involving around 150,000 travellers, many of them from planned school trips. JTB said that 80% of schools had postponed their travel, with the remaining 20% reassessing their journeys. Many of these may opt to travel to domestic destinations rather than overseas, JTB said.
TJI Online noted: “By deducting the annual average number of cancellations from that cancelled between 25 April and 29 May 2009, JTB said it estimated that the [higher than average] number of tour cancellations was solely the result of the outbreak of the H1N1 virus.
According to estimates for overseas travel, 95,000 customers cancelled their participation in tours for all destinations, amounting to some ¥14 billion (US$145 million) in sales. The remaining cancellations came from the domestic travel sector.
The number of cancellations of certain tour products is four times as many as the annual average, said JTB. But there was also some positive news, with tour bookings exceeding cancellations, as the market recovers.
TJI Online reported: “JTB said it appears that a wave of cancellations of overseas package tours has reached the bottom and demand is on the rebound, particularly among family-oriented summer tour products bound for Hawaii and Asian destinations.
“With tourist demand in Tokyo now beginning to recover, JTB said momentum is expected to spread to other regional markets including Osaka, the second-largest market.”
*Editor’s note: The Moodie Report works closely with TJI Online, the largest English-language travel trade news source in Japan. Week in, week out, it provides timely and sharp analysis of the all-important Japanese travel market – international and domestic. To subscribe please visit https://tji.tjnet.co.jp. It comes with our highest recommendation.
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