Japanese travellers are thinking twice about their Golden Week holidays

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A recent report from AFP shows that Japanese travellers are thinking twice about spending for the annual Golden Week holiday period in light of soaring prices for hotels and entry to local attractions.

Inflation driven by record inbound tourism has caused a massive increase in hotel and attractions rates, forcing many domestic travellers to put off their vacations despite the fact that the holiday already began on Saturday, 3rd May.

Golden Week spans the first week of May, covering three consecutive public holidays.

It is the longest break of the year, and gives Japanese workers time off to visit family, as well as travel domestically or internationally.

When trends trump tradition

Over the past couple of years, however, the surge in prices for everything from basic commodities and utilities to flight and hotel bookings have forced many Japanese to shy away from heading out for the holiday.

If we look at how Japan is faring economically, the yen has already lost about a third of its value since 2022, something which helped propel the surge in inbound tourism over the past three years.

While the return of tourists has been a great help to the economy, it has also meant overcrowding in popular destinations such as Kyoto and Osaka, meriting the ire and frustration of locals over outrageous tourist behaviour.

Likewise, the inflow of tourists sent demand for hotel bookings spiraling upward, with the room rate in Japan’s five major cities around 16 percent more expensive at the onset of this year’s Golden Week than last year.

This has resulted in many locals opting to shelve their travel plans for this year.

Experts at Yamanashi University explained: “The biggest reason seems to be the inflation that has curtailed their willingness to spend lavishly”, Atsushi Tanaka, a tourism studies professor at Yamanashi University. Because the inbound tourism is booming so much, hotel operators don’t need to lower their accommodation prices, which is making it harder for Japanese people to travel.”

These findings were bolstered by the results of a poll conducted by the JTB Group last month wherein the number of respondents planning to go on trips decreased by 5.6 percent from last year’s total.

Another survey by marketing research firm Intage, also conducted last month, shows that the percentage of those planning to travel domestically during the holiday period dipped by two percent from a year earlier to 13.6 percent.

The same study, however, showed the average budget for Golden Week outings this year has edged up to US$201 from US$192, underscoring holidaymakers’ acceptance of the status quo.

Japan logged more than 36.8 million tourist arrivals in 2024, topping 2019’s record of nearly 32 million.

The government has set an ambitious target of almost doubling tourist numbers to 60 million annually by 2030.

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