I posted the following article from USA Today/Travel in the DVC. The loss of guests from Japan. Will this be a problem for DVC in Hawaii?
There were interesting comments about the affects on DL and WDW visitors. We have all seen the uptick in Japanese guests....will they still be able to visit?
What do you think? Will it even affect our parks in the US?
Hawaii tourism tourism promoters are bracing for a far bigger impact on the state's key industry than the millions of dollars in damage from last week's tsunami: a significant drop in the $2 billion that Japanese visitors were projected to spend there this year, along with short-term, unfounded fears of windblown radiation from Japan's quake-crippled nuclear power plants.
Hula dancer Kanoe Miller, center has been performing at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki for more than three decades. Hawaii is facing an economic hit as Japanese tourists cancel trips to the state.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie declared the islands "back in business" Tuesday following a tour of damaged harbors, roads and shoreline buildings on Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. Some businesses and two Big Island hotels the Four Seasons Hualalai and Kona Village Resort remain closed after the tsunami, but the Pride of America cruise ship returns next week after canceling this week's stop in the Big Island town of Kailua-Kona. Though divers discovered some reef damage to Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, the impact was not as bad as initially feared, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
But the state has already logged several thousand tour and hotel cancellations from the Japanese market. Despite a decline in recent years, the Japanese make up nearly 18% of Hawaii's 7.1 million annual tourists and represent the state's single largest source of visitors outside the USA.
Although the Japanese spend an average of just under six days per visit in Hawaii compared to 9.5 days for U.S. West Coast tourists and 10.5 days for East Coast visitors, their daily expenditures are much higher: an average of $274 per person, a day versus $146 for visitors from the West Coast and $177 a day from East Coast visitors, says David Uchiyama of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
"This is just the first shock wave," says Uchiyama, who notes that a "cultural sense of obligation and responsibility" to fellow countrymen traditionally keeps Japanese from traveling during times of crisis.
Golden Week, a strong holiday time in Japan because it encompasses four national holidays during late April and early May, typically boosts Japanese arrivals in Hawaii by as much as 25%.
"The economic consequences will be severe for us," Abercrombie says. "It's going to be terrible. It's something we have to come to grips with."
I'm guessing the Disney addicts (yes, they have to have the too!!) in Japan may try to feed their Disney Fix at Toyko Disneyland for now. It will be far less expensive and they will support their own economy.......at the expense of DL and WDW. I agree with those on the DVC thread......this is a long-term impact.
My prayers are with all of our friends in Japan.
There were interesting comments about the affects on DL and WDW visitors. We have all seen the uptick in Japanese guests....will they still be able to visit?
What do you think? Will it even affect our parks in the US?
Hawaii tourism tourism promoters are bracing for a far bigger impact on the state's key industry than the millions of dollars in damage from last week's tsunami: a significant drop in the $2 billion that Japanese visitors were projected to spend there this year, along with short-term, unfounded fears of windblown radiation from Japan's quake-crippled nuclear power plants.
Hula dancer Kanoe Miller, center has been performing at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki for more than three decades. Hawaii is facing an economic hit as Japanese tourists cancel trips to the state.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie declared the islands "back in business" Tuesday following a tour of damaged harbors, roads and shoreline buildings on Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. Some businesses and two Big Island hotels the Four Seasons Hualalai and Kona Village Resort remain closed after the tsunami, but the Pride of America cruise ship returns next week after canceling this week's stop in the Big Island town of Kailua-Kona. Though divers discovered some reef damage to Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, the impact was not as bad as initially feared, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
But the state has already logged several thousand tour and hotel cancellations from the Japanese market. Despite a decline in recent years, the Japanese make up nearly 18% of Hawaii's 7.1 million annual tourists and represent the state's single largest source of visitors outside the USA.
Although the Japanese spend an average of just under six days per visit in Hawaii compared to 9.5 days for U.S. West Coast tourists and 10.5 days for East Coast visitors, their daily expenditures are much higher: an average of $274 per person, a day versus $146 for visitors from the West Coast and $177 a day from East Coast visitors, says David Uchiyama of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
"This is just the first shock wave," says Uchiyama, who notes that a "cultural sense of obligation and responsibility" to fellow countrymen traditionally keeps Japanese from traveling during times of crisis.
Golden Week, a strong holiday time in Japan because it encompasses four national holidays during late April and early May, typically boosts Japanese arrivals in Hawaii by as much as 25%.
"The economic consequences will be severe for us," Abercrombie says. "It's going to be terrible. It's something we have to come to grips with."
I'm guessing the Disney addicts (yes, they have to have the too!!) in Japan may try to feed their Disney Fix at Toyko Disneyland for now. It will be far less expensive and they will support their own economy.......at the expense of DL and WDW. I agree with those on the DVC thread......this is a long-term impact.
My prayers are with all of our friends in Japan.
