Separate surveys by three major Japanese tourism companies have found that Korea is the most popular destination this year for travel during Japan’s Golden Week holiday period. Shown are participants in the opening ceremony for the Korea Tabi Festival on March 22 holding banners in a group photo at the K-Tourism Roadshow in Tokyo, Japan. (Korea Tourism Organization)
By Charles Audouin
Japanese travelers have selected Korea as their preferred overseas destination during Golden Week (April 27-May 6), a period in Japan combining four national holidays.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) on April 8 said Korea topped the list of travel destinations based on three surveys on overseas travel for Golden Week. The studies were conducted separately by the major Japanese travel agencies JTB and HIS and global online travel agency Expedia Japan.
JTB and HIS predicted a big jump in the number of Japanese traveling abroad during this year’s holiday from the same period last year, with 20.5% of them opting for Korea. Popular destinations in Korea cited by such tourists included Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island.
Expedia Japan’s search trends for Golden Week also placed Seoul at the top for the overall number of searches and that for solo travel.
In anticipation of this trend, the KTO is running social media events and campaigns on visiting Korea to attract Japanese tourists during Golden Week. Even after the holiday, the organization will promote familiarization tours and training trips for travel agents to capture demand during summer vacation.
Ahead of Golden Week, the KTO and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism from March 19-24 held the K-Tourism Roadshow in the Japanese cities of Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo. The event will continue its tour of Japan to target summer vacationers in Sapporo (May 18-19), Nagoya (June 13) and Osaka (June 8-9).
caudouin@korea.kr
