TokyoTomo Travel Guide

JALPAK has recently introduced JAL Pack Special “6-Days Tour to Hawaii by JAL/JALways Charter Flight from Haneda.” There are seven departures by charter flights starting from October 6, prior to the airline’s first scheduled service to Honolulu from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport slated for October 31 this year. Although the tour programs are basically different from the package tours currently operated from Narita, the tour prices are set from 9,000 yen to 32,000 yen lower in a drive to stimulate tours to Hawaii from Haneda Airport. Package tours planned on scheduled flights from Haneda, incidentally, are some 9,000 yen higher than Narita departures except for some tours since the economy class fare from Haneda is 10,000 yen higher than from Narita, said JALPAK.

Key feature of Hawaii tours from Haneda using the late evening departure and early morning arrival slots is that customers joining from the Tokyo metropolitan area can enjoy a 6-day Hawaii tour, taking only two days off. As these charter flights are scheduled to depart from Honolulu at 0200, guest rooms are kept available for late check-out. The package price also includes benefits such as free ride on the “Rainbow Trolley” exclusively for JALPAK guests and its original bus tour “Hokulea” at no additional cost. With Haneda’s new international passenger terminal becoming operational from October 21, customers leaving for Honolulu on October 18 would enjoy a rare experience of departing from the existing passenger terminal and returning to the brand new passenger terminal at Haneda.

The package tour sales meanwhile started from July 21 and the number of bookings continuously rises as the internationalization of Haneda Airport and its new international passenger terminal building continue to receive media exposures. On August 3 alone, 40 people were reportedly booked. JALPAK anticipates sellout of 40 seats on each departure totaling 336.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Aggregate monthly sales of overseas package tours achieved by major operators were down 13.2 percent in April from last year but up 3.8 percent and 46.8 percent in May and June respectively, according to a research made by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA). The growth in June was particularly noticeable on the rebound from the previous year’s severe slump caused by the outbreak of new strain of flu, and some destinations saw an extraordinary growth as is exemplified by North America’s 195.4 percent.

By destination, Hawaii, Kong Kong/Macau, and China exhibited a growth for three months running. Taiwan showed a two-digit growth in May and June after a 5.4 percent dip in April. Europe sustained a fall of 20 percent in April due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption but recovered to a growth of 1.5 percent and 40.5 percent in the following months.

In the outlook of booking status for July through September, September looks dismal with negative performance of 18.6 percent in deficiency of a long holiday week of the previous year, but July and August are in good form with a gain of 1.7 percent and 15.1 percent respectively. Hawaii, in particular, shows good performance in each of the three months, surpassing the status a year earlier. To take a look at the limited period of summer vacation from July to August, it is noteworthy that North America makes a jump of 112.3 percent in growth for July and 62.2 percent for August; likewise, Oceania sees a gain of 36.6 percent for July and 51.8 percent for August.

Thailand, on the other hand, where political riots happened in Bangkok, is suffering severe setback in July-September bookings as well as the April-June track records.

Note:
JATA’s above research was made with JTB, Kinki Nippon Tourist, Nippon Travel Agency, Hankyu Travel International, JALPAK, ANA Sales, and H.I.S. Be advised that ANA Sales does not operate package tours to Guam/Saipan and Oceania; therefore, they are not counted in.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Amid the continued scrapping of the regional routes by the Japanese scheduled carriers, it is strongly felt that charter flight operations should be encouraged from and to the regional airports. Some airlines have successfully operated ITCs (inclusive tour charters) from the remote islands. China Airlines (CI), to cite a case, has launched an inclusive tour charter from Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, to Taiwan’s Taipei departing on June 10 and returning on June 13. “It is the very first international charter flight from Kagoshima’s Tanegashima Airport, said the airline’s Fukuoka branch, adding that Boeing B737-800 with a configuration of 155 Economy class seats is already booked up to full capacity. China Airlines had operated a charter flight also from Kagoshima’s Tokunoshima Airport already in September, 2009. The airline had enjoyed an excellent seat load factor of 95 percent, operating the same type of aircraft.

According to the website of Kagoshima Prefecture, the respective population of Tanegashima Island and Tokunoshima Island are approximately 34,000 and 27,000. Although China Airlines considers that, with such a small number of the population, the charter business would be risky, yet the airline figures that there should be a demand for a direct charter flight, even if slightly expensive, since overseas travel from the remote islands require a detour via Fukuoka or Narita or Kansai or elsewhere with extra travel costs involved. China airline successfully encouraged the travel agencies including Nokyo Tourist Corporation to realize the inclusive tour charter. The package tours of four days and three nights average 100,000 yen.

Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines (MU) operated a charter flight from Tokunoshima Island to Shanghai, China, which departed on May 13 and returned on May 16. It was the airline’s first charter operation from the Japanese remote islands, but most probably it was the very first charter ever operated by a Chinese carrier, remarked China Eastern Airlines. The airline added, “The sales outcome was extremely good.”

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