Traffic to Japanese language travel sites down?

Even where our results of gone up in Google JP...

[whats up skip]

Even for pages where they have gone up in Google JP over the last three weeks, the traffic has gone down. (For key destination key words in Japanese for Australia).

Just wondered if anyone else has seen this too.

Could it be the North Korean news, just seasonal or no impact else where?

[Visit Thailand]

Japan is a very sensitive market for travel related products. Did you see an increase in visitors during the SARS outbreak? If so you may be seeing a readjustment as Japanese may be looking more to areas in Asia that are offering incredible deals such as Singapore, HK, etc.

Also note that the recent US homeland advisory included Australia in the places of potential attack which may affect the Japanese travel market.

[takagi]

I noticed some advertisements for Australia here in the trains. So maybe your competion is more active right now?

[bill]

I saw an article the other day that said a Japanese travel agency was giving away free trips to Taiwan (a recent SARS problem area), and they had an overwhelming response. Hundreds of people took advantage of this and went to Taiwan. The point of the article was that SARS and terrorism weren't the points of concern for people, but rather the affordability of the package. It seems that the economy packages might be the ones to target now for Japanese travelers.

[whats up skip]

Thanks all for the feedback.

Visit_Thailand it could be the competition from Asian countries for low price packages. The Australian dollar has gained against the Yen and this would have made Australia less competitive. How has the Thai currency gone against the Yen over the last month or so?

The recent US Homeland security advisory "stuff up" was prior to the drop in traffic. (Was this covered in the Japanese press?) It was later corrected to say that Australia was a possible boarding place, not place of attack.

Australia lost a hugh amount of tourists from Japan during SARS. They just stopped traveling.

takagi we normally benefit from any campaigns for Australia as people will normally search for information on destinations such Cairns, and we do very well on these search terms.

[bill]

The Australian dollar has gained against the Yen and this would have made Australia less competitive.

Just remember that this will have a small effect on the current travel market. Japanese generally buy well in advance. You'll probably see the effects of this months from now if at all. A lot of people cancelled travel due to the 'war', terrorism and SARS. Current affairs in Japan probably won't hit you for several months bookings-wise.

[lukasz]

What about WINTER.

[bill]

LOL
Hadn't thought about that one lukasz.

Most of Japan had a very prolonged rainy season with a late start to summer. A lot of tourist places in Japan were worried if they were going to have a summer season at all. The weather over the last few days seems to be making up for it. Heading down under to cool off probably isn't as appealing this year compared to others where by now we'd have been baked and thoroughly uncomfortable.

[whats up skip]

Yes, it could be seasonal. Our growth and events of the last 12 months make it impossible to see any seasonal difference, but wouldn't Thialand see the same thing?

The market in Japan may not know this, but now is the best time to go to Cairns, Ayers Rock, Kakadu and the top end.

Just glad I am not trying to sell accommodation in Bali or Jukata. Did the bombing get much coverage in Japan?

[Visit Thailand]

Thailand is a different cup of tea from Australia with many different factors, such as cost, culture, sights, security etc. etc. so should not be compared too much to Australia. Plus Australia's tourism figures are not as high as many would like, and ATC has recently started many campaigns in Japan and elsewhere - but so has all the major Asian destinations.

Plus while Thailand is in rainy season you can get 10 days of glorious sunshine if you are lucky or sunshine and rain if you are not.

I am not in Japan but am sure the bomb in Jakarta will receive massive coverage as it has all over the world. I hate to say this and my heart sincerley goes out to all the families etc of thise affected and the Indonesian economy as a whole especially the tourism sector, but if it happened somewhere else in Asia the effect (from a terrorist and global media perspective) could have been a lot worse.