世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1][part 2]

A recent survey from Macromill Research looked at overseas holidays, both weekend breaks via the new Haneda international terminal and longer holidays.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 27th of August 2010 1,000 members of the Macromill monitor group resident in Tokyo or one of the three surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama and in full-time employment in either the public or private sectors completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was split by sex exactly 50:50 in each of the age groups, with 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.0% aged fifty or older.

I’m surprised by a number of the answers in Q4SQ10, as the typical image of a Japanese tourist is very much according to the Statement A, yet around half identified with the more adventurous holidaymaker. Perhaps there is a difference between what holidays the Japanese would like to take versus what holidays they actually do feel comfortable taking, as language and personal safety always features high in the lists of concerns when overseas.

Research results

Q4: Are you interested in foreign holidays? (Sample size=1,000)

	All	Male N=500	Female N=500
Interested (to SQs)	57.1%	49.6%	64.6%
Somewhat interested (to SQs)	29.7%	34.2%	25.2%
Not very interested	10.1%	12.0%	8.2%
Not interested at all	3.1%	4.2%	2.0%

Q4SQ1: What would you like to do on a foreign holidays? (Sample size=969, multiple free answer, top five)

Rank	All	Percentage	Male N=479	Percentage	Female N=490	Percentage
1	Visiting the tourist spots	84.7%	Visiting the tourist spots	79.5%	Visiting the tourist spots	89.8%
2	Eating out	77.6%	Eating out	74.3%	Eating out	80.8%
3	Visiting World Heritage sites	72.2%	Visiting World Heritage sites	66.8%	Visiting World Heritage sites	77.6%
4	Shopping	53.6%	Going to museums, art galleries	42.8%	Shopping	67.1%
5	Going to museums, art galleries	49.0%	Shopping	39.7%	Going to museums, art galleries	55.1%

Q4SQ2: With whom would you like to go with on a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Friends	50.7%	36.7%	64.3%
Spouse	47.2%	59.1%	35.5%
Boyfriend, girlfriend	36.4%	31.9%	40.8%
Children, grandchildren	28.1%	35.1%	21.2%
Alone	21.8%	20.7%	22.9%
Parents, grandparents	21.3%	12.7%	29.6%
Other	2.0%	0.8%	3.1%

Q4SQ3: What kind of arrangements would you want to make for a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Package tour	35.7%	34.9%	36.5%
Free plan (transport and hotel only)	50.9%	52.2%	49.6%
Book myself	12.8%	12.9%	12.7%
Other	0.6%	0.0%	1.2%

Older people were more keen on package tours, with just under half of the over-fifties favouring it. By salary, a hotel and flight only plan had the same degree of popularity over the whole sample, but people on higher salary prefered to self-book.

Q4SQ4: About how much per adult would you budget for a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969, free answer)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Average budget	172,479 yen	167,340 yen	177,469 yen

Average budget increased by both age and salary.

Q4SQ5: What is your desired duration for a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Up to three days	1.3%	1.3%	1.4%
Four or five days	15.1%	18.8%	11.4%
Six or seven days	37.3%	38.8%	35.7%
Eight to fourteen days	29.7%	25.7%	33.7%
Fifteen days to a month	11.7%	11.7%	11.6%
Longer than a month	5.0%	3.8%	6.1%

Q4SQ6: What is the actual realistic duration for a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969)

Up to three days	15.1%
Four or five days	50.7%
Six or seven days	25.5%
Eight to fourteen days	7.0%
Fifteen days to a month	0.9%
Longer than a month	0.8%

Note that the durations above were from departure to arrival, so one day would be lost flying to Europe or the continental USA.

Q4SQ7: Where would you want to go to on a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969, multiple free answer, top five)

Rank	All	Percentage	Male N=479	Percentage	Female N=490	Percentage
1	Italy	60.1%	Hawaii	53.7%	Italy	67.6%
2	Hawaii	56.4%	Australia	52.8%	Hawaii	59.2%
3	Australia	54.4%	Italy	52.4%	Australia	55.9%
4	France	49.4%	France	43.4%	France	55.3%
5	UK	42.5%	Continental USA	40.9%	UK	46.5%

Q4SQ8: From where do you gather information about foreign holidays? (Sample size=969, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Travel-related web site, blog	79.7%	80.2%	79.2%
Travel agent brouchure	64.3%	59.5%	69.0%
Word of mouth from friends	28.2%	19.2%	36.9%
Magazine column, advertisement	25.2%	23.0%	27.3%
Talking to travel agency staff	23.5%	23.8%	23.3%
Television	16.1%	13.8%	18.4%
Newspaper column, advertisement	13.0%	13.6%	12.4%
Other	5.4%	4.4%	6.3%

Q4SQ9: What kinds of feelings do you ask for from a foreign holiday? (Sample size=969, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=479	Female N=490
Enjoyment	63.1%	53.9%	72.0%
Excitement	60.9%	55.5%	66.1%
Healing	54.8%	49.5%	60.0%
kaihoukan	54.2%	49.7%	58.6%
Being moved	49.3%	43.4%	55.1%
Out of the ordinary feeling	48.7%	41.3%	55.9%
Broadening my mind	42.5%	38.0%	46.9%
Feeling of new discoveries	35.6%	32.2%	39.0%
Breathing space	26.4%	25.1%	27.8%
Feeling active	20.5%	14.4%	26.5%
Gorgeousness	15.2%	10.4%	19.8%
Feeling of status	7.3%	6.5%	8.2%
Pride	4.9%	4.0%	5.7%
Other	2.7%	1.7%	3.7%

Q4SQ10: For each of the following statements regarding foreign holidays, which is closer to how you feel, A or B? (Sample size=969, multiple answer)

Statement A	Definitely A	Somewhat A	Somewhat B	Definitely B	Statement B
Popular places	6.6%	50.9%	34.7%	7.8%	Out of the way places
Fully planned	8.5%	47.0%	36.5%	8.0%	Unplanned
Long holiday with everything laid on	10.2%	44.3%	36.5%	9.0%	Short casual holiday focused on one thing
Few but upmarket holidays	8.5%	43.3%	38.8%	9.4%	Frequent but cheap holidays
Package tour	14.3%	34.9%	31.2%	19.6%	Self-planned holiday
Efficient holiday round many locations	10.3%	35.1%	37.6%	17.0%	Slow holiday round few locations

Q5: Do you think it’s become easier to go on foreign holidays? (Sample size=1,000)

Yes	40.6%
Perhaps	47.8%
Perhaps not	8.9%
No	2.7%

[part 1][part 2]