TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Vietnam Airline (VN) officially joined SkyTeam on June 10, adding 20 new destinations to the alliance. After July, the airline is also scheduled to start code-sharing flights with Delta Air Lines (DL), its alliance partner, on the Narita route. The code-share agreement is valid between Vietnam and U.S. However, a stopover in Tokyo is not allowed and the code-sharing excludes the flight between Narita and Vietnam.

Vietnam Airlines is the third Asian carrier which has joined SkyTeam, following China’s China Southern Airlines (CZ) and Korean Air (KE). In mid 2011, China Eastern Airlines (MU) is expected to join SkyTeam.

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.

Apple World (travel agency) has conducted a survey on the “airlines’ mileage programs and EC point services”. According to the survey, more than half (54.5%) of the participants replied that they would consider mileage programs as the “first priority” at the time of making reservations or purchasing airline tickets. 40.7% of the participants replied that they would consider “once in a while”. These two totaled about 95%, and it indicates that mileage programs are an element to make a decision when booking or purchasing airline tickets.

mileage cards

The figure between men and women shows that 66.7% male participants would consider “mileage programs as the first priority”, and it was 20 points more than female. The figure among different age group shows that 20% of the 20s and 44% of the 30s would consider the “mileage program as the first priority”, and these figures were much smaller than other age groups. It shows that the segment with low-incomes tends to consider fare price as important.

Almost each airline has its own mileage program, and the figure shows that 44.7% of the participants replied that they have “3-4 mileage memberships from different airlines” and it was the top answer. And then the figure followed by “two memberships” (32.5%), “five memberships” (12.2%), and “one membership” (8.9%). It seems that there is a tendency to use mileage program according to the destinations and purposes of travel. Also mileage points are used on “redemption or award tickets” (66.7%), and that was the most and common but the people who “never used points” ranks the second. Particularly 40% of the 20s replied that they have never used mileage points. It proves that young people’s segment has not earned enough mileage redemption points. Also, for the people who collect EC points from the EC website, 48.8% of the participants replied that they would “exchange to airline mileage point” and it was the most popular.

The airlines that are popular for its mileage program are; Japan Airlines (27.3%), ANA (23.2%), Delta Air Lines (16.2%), United Airlines (9.3%), Korean Air (3.2%), and American Airlines (3.2%). The figure between men and women, Japan Airlines and ANA were popular for women, and Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Korean Air and American Airlines were popular for men.

The survey has been conducted through Apple World site during 17-30 March, and received 123 participations.

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.

Takashi Ichikura, director of Hawaii Tourism Japan (HTJ), expressed his desire for strong recovery of tourism to Hawaii in 2010 at the recent trade seminar hosted by HTJ, saying, “Japanese travel industry aims to attain a 7.4 percent growth to bring the outbound travelers back to 16.6 million this year. We, as destination Hawaii, want to cooperate for the recovery by achieving a growth of more than 7.4 percent.” It is estimated that Hawaii had 1,117,159 visitors from Japan last year, down 4.9 percent from the previous year; therefore, a 7.4 percent growth on top of the figure means 1.2 million.

One of the contributing factors to be expected is the increased seat supply from airlines. Total capacity offer in 2009 was 1,597,326 seats, down 0.5 percent year on year, with average load factor at 70 percent, which leaves enough space to carry more passengers. Moreover, it is foreseen that Delta Airlines, All Nippon Airways, and Korean Air will put larger aircrafts into service. Ichikura made a comment on this, “Business class seats would multiply by switching the aircrafts to a bigger size. I wish travel agencies could send customers in a proportionate way in terms of tour price and the number of visitors.” Regarding local consumption of Japanese travelers in 2009, spending on accommodation dipped 15 percent, but it was probably because, as he pointed out, hotels offered promotional rates to beat the depressed market. The situation is becoming favorable for travelers to go to Hawaii, partly aided by appreciated yen rate, he added.

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