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Japan STB Market Insights

3 STB Market Insights – Japan

This publication ‘STB Market Insights’ serves as a reference to the trends of specific inbound tourism markets to Singapore. All information in this publication is deemed to be correct at time of publication.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data in this report, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) shall not be liable for any loss or damage caused by or arising from the use of the data in this publication. Data derived from surveys cited is subject to sampling error. Users are advised to exercise discretion when drawing any conclusion or inferences, or taking any action, based on the data.

STB makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in this document. Appropriate professional advice should be obtained before relying on or acting on any of the information contained in this document, and neither STB nor any of its officers, employees or agents shall be held liable for any loss or damage, whether direct or indirect, as a result of any improper or incorrect use of the information in this document.

Consumer Research & Insights Research & Incentives Division [email protected]

©2013 Singapore Tourism Board.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of STB, or as otherwise permitted herein.

Contents of this report may be reproduced accurately in part in other publications if STB is acknowledged and attributed as copyright owner.

Month of Publication: July 2013

mailto:[email protected]


Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 5

About The Market ...................................................................................................................................... 6

The Japanese Traveller ............................................................................................................................ 7

Media Consumption Habits ..................................................................................................................... 7

Japanese Travellers to Singapore ............................................................................................................... 8

The Japanese Visitor to Singapore .......................................................................................................... 9

Expenditure While in Singapore ............................................................................................................. 9

The Japanese Leisure Traveller .................................................................................................................. 10

Needs of the Japanese Leisure Traveller ................................................................................................ 11

Considerations for Travel Destinations .................................................................................................. 11

Planning and Booking Trends ................................................................................................................ 12

Information Sources Before Travel ........................................................................................................ 13

Information Sources During Travel ........................................................................................................ 13

Advocacy After Trip ............................................................................................................................... 13

Leisure Traveller in Singapore ................................................................................................................... 14

Reasons for Visiting Singapore .............................................................................................................. 15

Barriers to Visiting Singapore ................................................................................................................ 15

Business Traveller in Singapore ................................................................................................................. 16

The Economic Lure of South-East Asia .................................................................................................. 17

What Japanese Business Travellers Spent On and What They Bought ................................................... 17

Key Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 18

“Singapore – very impressive! It is like a city of the future.”

Japanese Tourist to Singapore; 2011


Executive Summary

Japan contributes about 5% of the total number of visitors to Singapore annually and was the 7th largest tourist market to Singapore in 2011. Despite the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011, visitor arrivals from Japan in 2010 and 2011 increased by 8% and 24% year-on-year respectively, and is projected to grow more in 2012. In contrast, the number of outbound travellers from Japan only grew 7.8% and 1.8% in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Considered experienced and sophisticated, the Japanese leisure traveller prefers experiential tourism to passive sightseeing. Apart from the usual beach destinations that they head to for a relaxing holiday, Singapore is gaining traction as a destination that offers cultural experiences, even with increasing and cheaper competition from the region. They also look for unique experiences, something that they can only experience in a particular destination.

Awareness of Singapore as a leisure destination in Japan has been on the increase, most notably awareness of the Marina Bay Sands. This can be attributed largely to a highly successful video featuring popular boy band SMAP at the SkyPark, which resulted in an almost 20% increase in visits to Integrated Resorts in general.

On the business travel front, Singapore is benefiting from strong growth in the ASEAN region as we are seen as a springboard to the region. With more Japanese businesses setting up offices here, an ecosystem of supporting services is looking to begin operations here too, as can be seen by the number of Japanese companies seeking advice from the Singapore office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) increasing by 248% from 2009 to 2011 (1).

Methodology of STB Primary Research Sources

Figures from this report are gathered from STB internal research as well as publicly available sources. The STB’s research sources are STB’s Overseas Visitors Survey (OVS) and the Leisure Segmentation Study (SEG), as well as various interviews and focus groups done.

Overseas Visitors Survey (OVS) – conducted annually at exit points in Singapore, the OVS covers visitors from every nationality. The sample size is usually around 28,000 per year.

Leisure Segmentation Study (SEG) – conducted in 2011 in 9 key markets, SEG sought to understand the needs of different segments of frequent air travellers within our key markets of Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan , Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The sample size was 500-900 per market, for a total of 6,000.


About The Market

Population (million) (2) 127.8 (2011)

No. of Households (million) (3) 52 (as at October 1, 2010)

Major Cities - Population (3)

1. Greater Tokyo: 9.0 million 2. Yokohama: 3.7 million 3. Osaka: 2.7 million 4. Nagoya: 2.3 million 5. Sapporo: 1.9 million

Outbound Travel (million) (4)

2008: 15.9 2009: 15.4 2010: 16.6 2011: 16.9

Top 5 Travel Destinations

in 2011 (million) (5)

1. South Korea: 3.519 2. China: 3.518 3. Hawaii: 1.45 4. Taiwan: 1.43 5. Thailand: 1.37

Type of Outbound Trips (4) Leisure Tourism (70%)

Business (12%)

Others (18%)

Seasonality of Outbound Trips (4)


The Japanese Traveller

The third-largest economy in the world, Japan is a highly industralised nation that is modern in its outlook. Correspondingly, the Japanese are considered experienced and sophisticated travellers who are seeking more in their travel experiences.

Although the number of Japanese making overseas trips is among the highest in the world (17 million in 2011), these overseas trips are made by a small population of Japanese travellers with a global mindset and are but a small proportion of the total trips taken by Japanese travellers annually, with over 280 million domestic trips taken during 2011 (source JTB).

The top international outbound travel destinations for Japanese travellers are mostly short-haul destinations, which include South Korea, China and Taiwan. The only South-East Asian country to make it to the top 5 in 2012 was Thailand. Singapore was ranked 8th.

In 2011, almost 3 in 4 Japanese outbound travellers travelled for leisure. The ‘Others’ category include visiting family and friends and attending conferences. Business travellers formed the minority.

From analyst projections, the number of Japanese outbound travellers looks set to increase, with the proportion of >60 years old increasing due to the country’s aging population. Departures are projected to increase by 20%, from 17 million in 2011 to 20 million trips in 2016 (6).

Looking at seasonality of Japanese outbound travel, the peak period for outbound travel is the summer months of August to September, with a smaller peak in March. April sees the lowest number of outbound Japanese travellers (4).

Media Consumption Habits

By the end of 2011, almost 8 in 10 Japanese aged 6 years and over had used the Internet in the past year

(from any platform; including PCs, cell phones, smartphones, tablet terminals and game machines), which

translates to over 96 million users (2). Among active leisure travellers, 9 in 10 surfed the Web for leisure

purposes at least once a week (7).

Since 2011, the use of social networking sites by Japanese has accelerated, with Facebook and Twitter

gaining popularity in Japan. Japan ranked 2nd, just after USA, for total Twitter usage in 2012, and Japan

and South Korea recorded the highest volume of New Year’s Eve tweets in 2012 at 33,338 tweets per

second (8).

This rapid increase after 2011 could be attributed in part to the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011.

The outpouring of kindness and support from foreigners made Japanese feel more connected to the

world; a few weeks after the earthquake, Facebook Japan user numbers spiked to over 3 million.


Japanese Travellers to Singapore

2008 2009 2010 2011

1 Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo

2 Osaka Osaka Osaka Yokohama

3 Nagoya Chiba Yokohama Osaka

4 Yokohama Yokohama Fukuoka Nagoya

5 Chiba Nagoya Nagoya Kawasaki

77 67 60

85

23,142 20,671

17,728

22,531

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008 2009 2010 2011

Weekly Flight Frequency Weekly Seat Capacity

Tourism Receipts by Major Items (9)

2008

2009

2010

2011

571 (‘000)

S$652 (million)

490

S$521

529

S$609

656

S$796

38%

30%

38%

40%

42%

45%

42%

47%

7%

8%

5%

4%

13%

17%

15%

9%

Holiday Business/MICE

Visit Friends/Relatives Others

Visitor Arrivals, Tourism Receipts and Purpose of Visit (9)

Weekly Flight Statistics (9)

Tourism Receipts – Per Capita (9)

$1,141

$1,064

$1,152

$1,212

2008 2009 2010 2011

Sightseeing & entertainment expenditure has been excluded from tourism receipts in the country breakdown due to commercial sensitivity of information.

Other TR components include expenditure on airfares, port taxes, local transportation, business, medical, education and transit visitors.

18% 22% 17% 17%

29% 28%

30% 31%

10% 11% 11% 13%

4% 4%

4% 4%

39% 33% 37% 36%

2008 2009 2010 2011

Shopping Accommodation F&B Transportation Others

Top 5 Cities of Origin (9)


The Japanese Visitor to Singapore

The number of Japanese visiting Singapore has been increasing from 2009 to 2011. In 2010 the annual

growth of Japanese visitors to Singapore outpaced the growth in total Japanese outbound traffic, with

2011 seeing numbers of Japanese visitors to Singapore hitting record highs.

Tourism receipts also grew to record highs. Tourism receipts for 2011 grew more compared to visitor

arrivals (31% vs. 24% respectively), which indicates a higher per capita expenditure.

Expenditure While in Singapore

Japanese travellers spent proportionally more on accommodation in Singapore than on other trip

components when compared to the global average; Japanese visitors spent 68% more on accommodation

than visitors from other markets.

This is corroborated by the fact that from 2010 to 2011, there was an increase in Japanese visitors

choosing hotels that are categorised as ‘mid-tier’ and above, thereby increasing their expenditure on

accommodation. Expenditure on accommodation grew 32% YOY, which is above the YOY increase in

average room rates (10%), thus the increase in room rates is not the sole reason for the increase in

accommodation expenditure. Japanese travellers generally do not exhibit aspirational tendencies, and

this move towards higher-tier accommodation options might signal an expectation of higher service

standards.

Shopping does not appear to be a main driver of the Japanese visitor, whose shopping expenditure in

Singapore is roughly half that of the average visitor to Singapore. This might be due to the fact that the

Japanese traveller is more sophisticated, thus looking for experiences rather than physical novelties to

form memories by. When they did shop, they are least likely to spend on ‘Watches and Clocks’ and

‘Consumer Technology and Gadgets’, spending more instead on ‘Confectionery and Food Items’ as well as

‘Souvenirs and Gifts’; perhaps due to their practice of ‘omiyage’ (buying souvenir/gift for family, friends

and colleagues when returning from travel) (9).

The Japanese are attracted by novelty and culture, and when buying ‘omiyage’ they will usually look for

something with attractive or interesting packaging that is characteristic of the destination they are at. If

buying food items for ‘omiyage’, the Japanese visitor usually looks for items that are individually wrapped.

Apart from being more convenient, Japanese value hygiene and do not want to dip into a communal

container with food items exposed. It is important to keep in mind that, to the Japanese, souvenirs are

seen as a means of assisting social communication and also as a way of sharing the same level of

satisfaction with those who were not able to go on the vacation together. When seen as such, the giving

of souvenirs can be interpreted as a way to create solidarity with those left at home as well as to ease the

feeling of guilt.

From focus groups done in Japan, one reason for their spending habit in Singapore might be that, even

though they traditionally put more trust in respected or reputable brands, they are likely to search for

good value. Value to them does not just mean lower prices and they are generally willing to pay a

premium for quality and good service.


The Japanese Leisure Traveller

Top Travel Needs (7)

Top 5 Travel Considerations (7) Top Hindrances to Overseas Travel (4)

Number of days available for the trip

Travel companion

Fits the budget

To visit friends or relatives

Interesting culture / heritage

Security concerns

Language concerns

Costs too much

Do not like foreign food

Simply don’t feel like it

Break from routine and stress; to recharge

Discovery and enlightenment; sense of achievement


Needs of the Japanese Leisure Traveller

Findings from the Leisure Segmentation Study suggest that the top travel need for Japanese travellers is

to “break away from routine & stress”; a getaway from daily routine or the stresses back home. This is

followed by the need for “discovery and a sense of achievement”. Japanese leisure travellers do not seem

to mind mixing a relaxing holiday with one that allows for discovery.

Despite the need to escape from the routine of daily life, they are not just looking to ‘chill by the beach’.

They still seek a certain quantity of experiences during their trips, making sure they get value for their

money. As for discovery, ‘safe adventure’ could sum up what they seek: a sense of certainty when it comes

to the experiences they can get at the destination so they know what to expect.

Being big fans of detail and precision, Japanese are more likely to devote time before their trip to

extensively research about a destination. The most popular Japanese online travel websites and

guidebooks are usually very detailed and packed with information; some guidebooks even go as far as to

provide information on how to travel to Japanese airports for departure. This information gathered about

a destination serves as a framework to guide their exploration and discovery at the destination which they

will follow diligently, thus enhancing their overall trip experience.

As they put in great effort and invest in copious amounts of research, the Japanese are intolerant of

perceived sloppiness on the part of content providers. They prefer collateral/material with an abundance

of details which is tailored to the Japanese market, and cannot accept material that is a direct translation

from another language.

Considerations for Travel Destinations

The top consideration when choosing a travel destination is the number of days available for the trip,

which would also affect how far they would be willing to travel. The number of days they have available

for trips is affected by how much vacation leave the Japanese working adult can bear to take, as Japanese

workers in general take very little vacation leave and hence tend to travel to shorter-haul destinations.

This is a societal norm as the Japanese are polite and loathe imposing upon others, which can be tied to

their sense of ‘kameseru’, meaning ‘maximum participation’. For a Japanese worker there are many taboos

to be mindful of – being late for work, leaving before supervisors and turning down an invitation for drinks

by supervisors are but some common taboos. Imposing on other colleagues for a vacation is another

example; taking vacation leave and having co-workers cover their duties is considered an imposition, and

hence vacation leave is seldom taken. In 2008, the average Japanese worker consumed only 47% of their

annual paid leave, which is usually 10 days in the first year of work (10).

The top hindrance to overseas travel is security concerns. Even if they seek to discover more about a

destination, they do not ignore safety.


Planning and Booking Trends

Information Sources (7)

65%

51%

40%

39%

31%

68%

52%

20%

20%

12% Recommendation from past visitor

Tour operator brochures

Tourism office

Travel guidebooks

Online sources

Online sources

Hotel concierge/staff

Brochures picked up at destination Maps picked up at destination

Travel guidebooks

Before Travel


Channels used to Share Travel Experiences (7)

9%

12%

16%

20%

22%

27%

36%

51%

Write review on travel website

Send postcard or letter

Blog about it

Does not share experiences

Post on social networking site

Email family or friends

Share photo/videos face-to-face

Talk to friend or family

During Travel

i

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I did not book in advance

1 - 7 days in advance

8 - 30 days in advance

1 - 3 months in advance



More than a year in advanceBooking Planning

Trip Planning/Booking Duration (7)


The Japanese are not known to be impulsive travellers, instead appreciating structure and planning,

though this could also be due to the lack of time available for travel which is linked to ‘kameseru’ above.

Overall, 1 in 3 respondents planned their trip more than 1 month ahead of their planned travel, compared

to only 4% and 2% who planned their trip “1-7 days in advance” and “Did not plan in advance at all”

respectively. As for booking, 6 in 10 respondents booked their trip more than 1 month ahead, compared to

only 4% who booked their trip “1-7 days in advance”. All respondents booked their trip in advance.

There is also a trend towards using Online Travel Agents (OTA) for travel bookings. OTAs in Japan

attracted an average of 11.3 million monthly unique visitors in May – July 2011. Approximately a third of all

travel-category visitors visited an OTA site in the same period (11).

Information Sources Before Travel

Before travelling, most respondents (2 in 3) sought information from online sources. Travel guidebooks

were the next favoured source, with a little more than half of them saying so. When it came to usefulness

of informational sources, almost half of the respondents found that online travel sources were the most

useful, followed by travel guidebooks (24%) and tourism office (7%) (7).

Of the myriad online sources, online travel review sites as well as search engines were the most consulted,

with a little over half of respondents saying they consulted either source. This is followed by websites of

airlines/hotels/travel agents and the official tourism organisation. Correspondingly, the online sources of

information rated most useful were online travel review sites as well as search engines, followed by the

websites of the official tourism organisation (7).

Also noteworthy would be the trend of Japanese using smartphones to look up travel information; of

private smartphone users, over half indicated that they use their smartphones to find information

regarding travel (12).

Information Sources During Travel

While travelling, Japanese predominantly turned to guidebooks for information, with 65% of respondents

saying so. This finding is also evidenced in smaller qualitative settings, whereby all respondents would

mention that they would consult and bring guidebooks for their trips. The more popular titles guidebooks

are, in no particular order, “Chikyu No Arukikata”, “Rurubu”, “Travel Days” and “Co-Trip”. Japanese

travellers have been known to follow instructions in travel guidebooks to a T.

Other popular sources of information consulted are maps and brochures picked up at the destination. It is

noteworthy that the top 3 sources of in-destination information would not require interaction with

another person. This again might be due to the Japanese culture of not wanting to impose on others,

preferring to find out about the destination through reading.

Advocacy After Trip

Japanese are less likely to advocate Singapore as a leisure travel destination to others, with only slightly more than half mentioning that they are either “Very likely” or “Somewhat likely” to. This is in contrast to 8 in 10 of them mentioning that they would recommend other countries that they have visited.

Furthermore, 1 in 5 Japanese do not share their travel experiences in any way, which is the highest rate in

the study (7); this is in stark contrast to the average amongst all countries in the study, which is only 7%.

When they do share their travel experiences, Japanese mostly prefer to do it face-to-face or by email (7).



Leisure Traveller in Singapore

Went Shopping

Visited a place or district with cultural or historical significance

Visited a theme park or adventure attraction

Visited friends or relatives

Visited a well-known landmark or tourist icon

Top 5 Activities Done While In Singapore (7)

66%

58%

31%

11%

11%

10%

9%

Local Ethnic Restaurant

Hawker Center/Food Court/Coffee Shop

Fine-Dining Restaurant

Unique Dining Experience

Dining Enclave

Celebrity Chef or Award-Winning Restaurant

Others

Top Dining Choices (7)


Reasons for Visiting Singapore

The general perception Japanese leisure travellers have about Singapore as a destination is that

Singapore is safe and tourist-friendly, and a travel destination that is conducive for family-trips.

In line with the top travel needs of the Japanese being to relax and discover, the top 5 activities done in

Singapore were visiting Sentosa as well as cultural/historical sites. This is partly corroborated with

feedback from STB in-market team that tour packages to or within Singapore with a strong cultural

component are in demand, examples of which are packages for photo shoots with complete Indian sari

makeover and walking tours of ethnic precincts.

Unique experiences that can only be found in Singapore would pique the interest of the Japanese leisure

traveller. From 2010 to 2011, the number of Japanese leisure visitors who visited the Integrated Resorts

increased from 7% to 25%, due largely to awareness created by a commercial featuring popular Japanese

boy band SMAP at the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark. Exotic dining experiences, for example, dinner in a

capsule on the Singapore Flyer or dining amongst fishes at the Ocean Restaurant at Resorts World

Sentosa, caught their attention, as did dining with the skyline as the backdrop at the Marina Bay Sands’

SkyPark. In line with their willingness to pay for quality, Japanese leisure travellers also appreciate

guaranteed front-row seats at the Night Safari, both for the shows and tram rides.

The Japanese leisure traveller’s need for discovery extends to their culinary pursuits while in Singapore

too. The majority of Japanese favour trying out ethnic restaurants and hawker centers, and they are

impressed by the cheap yet safe and good ‘street’ food that can be found in Singapore at hawker centers

and food courts. They also feel that Singapore has a great variety of international dining options, but did

not seem particularly interested in celebrity-opened or award-winning restaurants. This could be due to

Japan already having an abundance of award-winning restaurants (13).

Amongst all Japanese respondents, the top reasons for revisiting Singapore are related to hygiene factors, including safety and cleanliness. This ties in well with mitigating the top hindrance to overseas travel for the Japanese, which is ‘security concerns’.

Barriers to Visiting Singapore

On the other hand, barriers to visit include the relative distance of Singapore to Japan. In fact, Japanese

tend to relate to Singapore as a long-haul destination by flight-time. This is compounded by the fact that

the top travel need is ‘relaxation’, and Singapore is not perceived to be a destination for relaxing.

Low awareness about Singapore and a lack of differentiation when compared to other destinations are

other reasons for not visiting Singapore for leisure (7). The perceived lack of a ‘real’ beach, as well as a city

image similar to Tokyo means that Singapore does not immediately come to mind when planning a trip.

Cost of a visit to Singapore, as well as preference for other SEA destinations, was also evident, which

indicates that Singapore’s rising costs compared to neighbouring countries is a barrier.

Japanese travellers prefer more Japanese speaking sales personnel in shops as well as Japanese signages

at places such as attractions and public transportation hubs. While walking tours might be popular, the

lack of Japanese-speaking guides is a barrier. Technology might help bridge the gap, perhaps via

automated audio-visual guides with a choice of audio commentary in Japanese at ethnic precincts or

touchscreen way-finding kiosks with directions in Japanese at key locations. Information in Japanese can

also be embedded within QR codes, which are popular and wide-spread in Japan.


Business Traveller in Singapore

2008 2009 2010 2011

1 Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo

2 Osaka Osaka Yokohama Osaka

3 Chiba Yokohama Osaka Yokohama

4 Nagoya Chiba Chiba Nagoya

5 Yokohama Nagoya Nagoya Chiba

Changi Airport

Orchard Road

Marina Bay (Marina Sq/ Raffles City/ Suntec)

Top 5 Cities of Origin (Business) (9)

Top Shopping Areas Visited (19)

Sightseeing & entertainment expenditure has been excluded from tourism receipts in the country breakdown due to commercial sensitivity of information.

Other TR components include expenditure on airfares, port taxes, local transportation, business, medical, education and transit visitors.


The Economic Lure of South-East Asia

ASEAN has seen strong economic growth and real GDP growth amongst the ASEAN-10 countries are

projected to grow 5.5% annually from 2013 to 2017 (14), compared to the projected real GDP growth in

Japan of 2.5% (15). After the triple-disasters in 2011, there is also the feeling amongst Japanese businesses

that they must diversify their operations and not rely too heavily on domestic production.

With Singapore seen as a springboard to the region, more Japanese businesses have been considering

starting operations in Singapore. According to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a

government-related organisation that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and

the rest of the world, the number of Japanese companies seeking advice from its Singapore office jumped

248% from 2009 to 2011 (1). This trend can also be seen in the number of Japanese services firms setting

up shop in Singapore (16).

Barring the global downturn in 2009, Singapore has seen the number of Japanese business travellers

increase gradually; almost every other Japanese visitor to Singapore is a business traveller. Apart from

visiting for business or conventions/meetings, we see a growing trend of companies planning incentive

trips for their staff to Singapore too. This is especially so for the larger incentive groups (>1,000 pax),

which saw 70% more bookings after the Marina Bay Sands opened as there is now enough capacity to

absorb their large group size into one accommodation venue; previously only Swissôtel The Stamford had

the required capacity.

What Japanese Business Travellers Spent On and What They Bought

The proportion of Japanese business travellers visiting Singapore is much greater than the proportion of

Japanese outbound business travellers; over 40% of Japanese travellers visit Singapore for business,

whereas less than 15% of outbound travellers from Japan are travelling for business.

From 2008, the expenditure of Japanese business travellers in Singapore has been increasing. This could

be due to an increasing number of Japanese business travellers choosing hotels that are mid-tier and

above, leading to a corresponding increase in accommodation expenditure. This is significant since a large

component of their expenditure is in the form of accommodation, and the Japanese business traveller

spent a larger proportion of their in-destination expenditure on accommodation than the global average.

Also without bucking the trend set by their leisure counterparts, Japanese business travellers spent less on

shopping while in Singapore than the global average. In terms of what they bought in Singapore,

Japanese business travellers bought more ‘Confectionery and Food Items’, which is in line with their

practice of buying ‘omiyage’, and ‘Fashion and Accessories’, but bought less ‘Consumer Technology and

Gadgets’ and ‘Watches and Clocks’ than the global average. Overall, Japanese business travellers spent a

similar proportion on shopping items as compared to their leisure counterparts.

Making time for shopping, every other Japanese business traveller visited the shops at Changi Airport.

Less than 1 in 5 of them visited our most popular shopping districts (Orchard Road and the Marina Bay

area), while less than 1 in 10 of them ventured anywhere else.


Key Findings After 5 years of currency appreciation, the Japanese yen is depreciating and is projected to depreciate further over the next 3 years (17). Despite this, Japanese outbound travel is still expected to grow; albeit at a slower pace (18). To continue to entice the Japanese visitor to Singapore, some points to keep in mind would be their need for quality, attention to details as well as language. Specifically:

In every aspect of the Japanese traveller’s stay, their experience in travelling and relative sophistication as travellers should be taken into account. Offerings should be angled towards creating unique experiences and indelible memories, rather than aspirational ‘check-box ticking’.

Feedback from trade partners in Japan has indicated that tour packages that includes cultural activities (whether full-packages or free-and-easy packages) are the most popular with Japanese tourists, no matter the destination. This interest in culture might be a manifestation of one of their top travel needs, that of ‘discovery and enlightenment’.

Trip itineraries for the Japanese market should take into account their limited number of days available for trips in general; apart from the Golden Week (end-April to 5th of May) and Silver Week (mid-September) holidays, Japanese usually do not take long absences from work for overseas travel.

Safety – both in terms of security and knowing what to expect – is a big consideration for the Japanese traveller. Apart from the obvious need for a sense of security, the Japanese traveller wants structured and predictable experiences, going so far as to follow instructions in guidebooks to a T.

Accommodation options chosen by Japanese travellers to Singapore are moving towards higher-tier offerings, and communication to them should reflect this. There is also the expectation of higher standards of service at higher-tier offerings.

Japanese like to buy ‘gifts and souvenirs’, though they tend to shun large physical items either for gifting or as a souvenir. Individually-packed food items are a popular choice.

The language barrier is an inconvenience that extends throughout the entire stay of the Japanese traveller, affecting both leisure and business travellers. Technology might help bridge the gap; examples are via automated audio-visual guides at ethnic precincts, touchscreen way-finding kiosks at key locations or embedding information in Japanese within QR codes.

Collaterals must provide the Japanese with enough details for it to be a stand-alone information source and they must be written specifically for the Japanese market and not just a literal translation from another language.

Bibliography 1. Kin, Kwan Weng. Japanese companies look to Singapore. s.l. : The Straits Times, 2012. 2. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The Statistical Handbook of Japan 2012. 3. —. Japan 2012 Statistical Yearbook. 4. JTB Corp., Japanese Tourism Marketing Co. All About Japanese Overseas Travelers. 2012. 5. Japan Tourism Marketing Co. Historical Statistics - Japanese Tourists Travelling Abroad. Tourism Statistics. [Online] [Cited: 03 29, 2013.] 6. Euromonitor International. Passport - Tourism Flows Outbound in Japan. 2012. 7. Singapore Tourism Board. Leisure Segmentation Study. 2011. 8. Horwitz, Rachael. Celebrating 2013 in the global town square. Twitter Blog. [Online] 01 02, 2013. [Cited: 07 27, 2013.] 9. Singapore Tourism Board. Annual Report on Tourism Statistics. 2008/2011. 10. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Japan. Introduction to the revised Child Care and Family Care Leave Law. 2008. 11. PhoCusWright. Japan Online Travel Traffic Report. 2012. 12. Google-IPSOS. Understanding The Mobile Customer - Our Mobile Planet: Japan. 2012. 13. Steinberger, Michael. Tokyo Tops Paris With More Michelin Stars and Better Food. s.l. : Bloomberg, 2013. 14. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Southeast Asian Economic Outlook 2013: With Perspectives on China and India. 15. Kaneko, Kaori. Japan forecasts real GDP growth of 2.5 percent in year from April. s.l. : Reuters, 2013. 16. Chan, Fiona. More Japanese services firms in S'pore. s.l. : The Straits Times, 2013. 17. Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Report - Japan. 2012. 18. Business Monitor International. Japan Tourism Report. 2012. 19. Singapore Tourism Board. Overseas Visitors Survey. 2012; Jan-Sep. 20. Japan National Tourism Organisation. Tourism Statistics 2012. 2012. 21. Japan Tourism Marketing Co. JTM Outbound Statistics. 2012.

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