世論 What Japan Thinks

goo Research recently published the results of a survey they conducted into people’s plans for holidays this year. Over five days in the middle of January 1,082 people from their online monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire.

Demographics

The sample was 49.9% male, with 21.0% in their twenties, 18.8% in their thirties, 21.5% in their forties, 17.6% in their fifties, and 21.1% aged sixty or older. It’s good to see a large sample of older people, as I suspect that retired people travel disproportionately often.

I’m off to Europe too this summer, but I’m not sure what will happen regarding the blog; perhaps I’ll just stick it on autopilot summarising or reposting last year’s news? I have zero intention of blogging from abroad, and I doubt if I’ll even bother reading my mail. For domestic travel, I’d love to know how many people plan spending a night in their home prefecture. Wifey and I spend a night a few times a year in Kobe and Osaka (at a proper hotel, not the by-the-hour type!) for no particular reason other than we get a good offer, with both cities within 40 minutes travel time from home. In fact, last month we stayed at Hotel Piena in Kobe on a full board including five course room service deal with quite amazingly good food, especially considering they whipped up some veggie dishes for me at very short notice. We had a small complaint about noise from upstairs, and the manager sent me a nice letter of apology and three 20% off discount tickets!

Research results

Q1: Are you thinking about taking a holiday this year involving one or more nights’ stay? (Sample size=1,082)

Yes	86%
No (to Q8)	5%
Don’t know (to Q8)	9%

Q2: Where are you thinking of going, domestic or overseas? (Sample size=932)

Domestic (to SQ1)	63%
Overseas (to SQ2)	9%
Both (to SQ1 and SQ2)	28%

Combining Q1 and Q2 we get:

Q1+Q2: Are you thinking about taking a holiday this year involving one or more nights’ stay? (Sample size=1,082)

Domestic (to SQ1)	54%
Overseas (to SQ2)	8%
Both (to SQ1 and SQ2)	24%
No (to Q8)	5%
Don’t know (to Q8)	9%

Q2SQ1: Which of the prefectures in Japan are you thinking of travelling to? (Sample size=850, up to three answers)

Hokkaido	26%
Okinawa	22%
Kyoto	13%
Tokyo	12%
Nagano	9%
Shizuoka	9%
Kanagawa	8%
Chiba	6%
Osaka	5%
Hyogo	5%
The rest	Less than 5% each
Not decided yet	15%

Q2SQ2: Which of the following areas are you thinking of travelling to? (Sample size=343, up to three answers)

Hawaii, Guam, Saipan	31%
Europe	31%
Australia	17%
South Korea	16%
Other South-East Asian nation	16%
Continental North America	14%
Taiwan	13%
China (excluding Taiwan and Hong Kong)	12%
Hong Kong	8%
India	2%
Africa	2%
Middle East	1%
Russia	2%
Other ex-Soviet country	0%
Central or South America	1%
Other	3%
Not decided yet	10%

Q3: Who do you plan to travel with? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

Family	71%
Friends	33%
Lover	15%
Parents	9%
Co-workers	3%
Alone	15%
Other	1%

Q4: What is the most important objective of the planned travel? (Sample size=932)

	All	Men N=465	Women N=467
To cheer myself up	37%	31%	44%
Make memories	25%	20%	30%
Break for family	19%	30%	8%
Fill up free time	15%	16%	15%
Practice foreign languages	0%	0%	1%
Other	3%	3%	3%

Q5: What do you want to enjoy at your destination? (Sample size=932, multiple answer)

	All	Men N=465	Women N=467
Wandering the streets	58%	54%	61%
Visiting hot springs	53%	53%	52%
Gourmet, eating	45%	39%	51%
Experiencing natural beauty	41%	43%	40%
Shopping	25%	17%	33%
Visiting art galleries	19%	15%	22%
Visiting temples and shrines	18%	18%	19%
Visiting theme parks	17%	13%	21%
Watching festivals	8%	8%	9%
Swimming in the sea	9%	9%	9%
Watching sports events	2%	3%	2%
Golf	1%	1%	1%
Other	6%	6%	6%

I’d love to see the above figures split between domestic and overseas travel!

Q6: How much is your budget for this year’s travel? (Sample size=932)

Less than 30,000 yen	8%
30,000 to 50,000 yen	16%
50,000 to 100,000 yen	31%
100,000 to 300,000 yen	28%
300,000 to 500,000 yen	11%
500,000 to 1,000,000 yen	5%
Over 1,000,000 yen	1%

Unfortunately, it is not quite clear if this is per person or per group.

Q7: Compared to last year’s travel, does it look like your budget will increase this year? (Sample size=932)

Will increase	21%
Increase a little	26%
Not change	37%
Decrease a little	7%
Decrease	3%
Didn’t go on holiday last year	6%

Q8: Have you ever booked travel through the internet? (Sample size=1,082)

Yes (to SQ2)	62%
No (to SQ1)	38%

Q8SQ1: Do you think you’d like to try booking travel through the internet this year? (Sample size=407)

Think so (to SQ2)	67%
Don’t think so (to SQ3)	33%

Q8SQ2: Why did you use (or do you want to use) the internet to book travel? (Sample size=947, multiple answer)

Convenient because it can be used any time	69%
Don’t have to visit the travel agent so much	62%
Can get discounts	40%
Can book directly with the destination	29%
Has a lot of information regarding the destination	26%
Can book hotel and airplane as a set	9%
Other	1%

Q8SQ2: Why do you not want to use the internet to book travel? (Sample size=135, multiple answer)

Can tap the in-depth knowledge of the travel agent	47%
Don’t feel safe booking things on the internet	33%
Don’t really know how to use travel sites	21%
Other	13%