SOME 36,000 Japanese tourists are expected to travel to Saipan and Guam between April 25 to May 5, or during Japan’s “golden week,” according to the latest survey of Japan Travel Bureau.
The golden week includes several national holidays and weekends.
More than 22 million Japanese will spend their vacation during this period and about 509,000 are expected to travel overseas.
JTB, Japan’s leading travel authority, said the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad is projected to reach its peak on May 3.
“Bookings for LOOK JTB package tours as of March 29 suggest that three peak departure days will be May 3, then May 2 and April 27, in that order,” JTB said in its report.
“May 3 is particularly popular for departures to Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Guam and Saipan—nearer destinations suitable for 3-night/4-day vacations,” it added.
Overall, JTB said Asia remains the most popular destination for Japanese tourists—54 percent of the 509,000 tourists want to visit Asian destinations.
South Korea is their first choice since the World Cup finals are going to be held in Seoul.
“Korea should again take the lead among destinations as it did last year since (1) it will be easy to visit using the three-day holiday in April or the four-day holiday in May, and (2) with the Korea-Japan World Cup coming up, Korea will be on everyone’s lips and attracting lots of attention,” JTB said.
JTB classifies the Marianas under the North America category. Hawaii is the top favorite destination in this group, with 46,000 Japanese tourists intending to visit the state.
The U.S. mainland is second with a total of 40,000 expected Japanese travelers. Guam and Saipan rank third with 36,000 visitors. Canada is the fourth choice with 9,000 projected Japanese visitors.
