Japan Travel Trade Weekly News
Keeping you abreast of what's going on in the
Japanese travel and tourism industries.
News consolidated by Travel Vision, Inc. updated every week.
Survey by Visa Card: Young People in 20's Appear to Be in Run-up to
Overseas Trip, Still in Need of Nest Egg
Early-June 2008
Visa International conducted a survey on credit card usage abroad
and spending attitude with 600 men and women in their 20's to 50's
who had made at least one overseas trip in the past year.
To the question if they are making any special efforts to travel
overseas, the majority (62.5 percent) of those in their 20's replied
they were putting aside petty cash every now and then for savings for
a future trip, while most of those in their 30's to 50's put priority
on hunting for discount tickets or price-busting travel plans; thus,
attitudes toward overseas travel are found quite apart between
generations.
Seen from other aspects regardless of the age bracket, however,
43.8 percent of those who habitually make an overseas trip more than
two times a year are much concerned with savings, and 42.7 percent is
eager to acquire flight miles. This fact illustrates that people
enthusiastic about going abroad, young and elderly, are intent on
securing necessary financial means for overseas travel, despite the
generally accepted notion that young people are not much interested
in it these days.
The average price of the most expensive items paid by the credit
card was 125,000 yen in 20's, 210.000 yen in 30's (85,000 yen more
than 20's), and 277,000 yen in 40's (67,000 yen more than 30's);
thus, higher income of advanced generations seems to make their
spending more generous.
KNT President Yoshikawa Pledges to Restore Profitability as Problems
Uncovered after Structural Reform
Early-June 2008
At the convivial party with the press, Katsuhisa Yoshikawa,
president of Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT) said, "After 50 days since I
assumed the presidency, what I am most keen about in company
management is to restore profitability."
Reviewing the financial results of the last year, he remarked,
"It was quite disappointing. We have to learn a lesson from the fact
that our company could not follow the rapid changes of business
circumstances and market diversification. I will reinvent KNT by
leveraging the company's front-line power and staff's creativity both
of which are sources of our strength."
With reference to the front-line power, KNT makes it a point to
have high regard for consumers' opinion and reflect it to the
everyday business, while addressing the problems that surfaced after
the corporate shakeup executed in January this year.
By stepping up the specialization of every unit within the
organization, challenges and objectives of each division have become
clearer than ever, which Mr. Yoshikawa assesses as the fruit of the
reorganization.
These challenges and objectives, supported by staff's creativity,
will be a guiding principle in creating products and services that
appeal to consumers, he said. He takes as an example a series of
charter flights of Continental Airlines to Rota, saying, "We are
going to send 6,000 customers to Rota with this series alone where
the Japanese visitor arrivals were no more than 3,000 per year. It is
our hope to make Rota a new sustainable destination."
He continues, "Traditional business approach no longer works
today. We must use all our senses in facing reality and put forth
originality in designing products so as to overwhelm the rivals." The
new schemes and ideas will be incorporated into the medium-range
business plan to be announced in the coming summer.
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