What Japanese Tourism Amenities are Most Influential in Terms of Demand from Inbound Tourists?

         
Author Name KONISHI Yoko (Senior Fellow, RIETI) / SAITO Takashi (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
Creation Date/NO. February 2020 20-J-014
Research Project Development of New Indicators for Service Sector Analysis and EBPM
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Abstract

Since 2012, the number of inbound tourists has increased every year, and new records of tourism-related economic indicators are being updated in Japan. On the other hand, the sudden inbound boom has led to a concentration of travel destinations, and over-tourism has become a problem in various places. In this paper, we first statistically observe the concentration of tourists by accommodation type for each country of origin. Second, by identifying tourism amenities that contribute to inbound demand, we gain the knowledge necessary to shift demand from facilities with a high concentration of inbound tourists to facilities with lower occupancy. For the analysis, we utilized establishment data from the "Accommodation Travel Statistics Survey," OTA (Online Travel Agency) information, and data on tourism resources by region. The results show that the number of rooms, average price, membership of the hotel in a chain, internet availability, room type, number of World Heritage sites, and number of direct flights positively affect inbound demand. In particular, for Ryokan (Japanese style inn) with low occupancy rates and inbound guest ratios, independence of the Ryokan, internet availability, Western-style room availability, number of World Heritage sites, and hot spring facilities are effective in capturing demand.