Japan's Golden Week holidays are an important time for the local hospitality industry. And this year, the outlook for Hawaiʻi is mixed.
If you believe surveys and early reservations, more Japanese visitors will be coming to Hawaiʻi during next weekʻs peak of Golden Week compared to last year, but not by a lot. Golden Week is a stretch of national holidays strung together — from the end of April through early May.
Japan's government started the practice back in 1948.
A film executive is credited with coining the phrase “Golden Week” a few years later, because of the number of people going to the movies over the holidays. It was a play on the phrase “golden time,” used by radio broadcasters to describe peak listening hours.
Over the years, Golden Week has been a peak travel season for the Japanese, including for overseas trips.
But these days, international travel by the Japanese has still not returned to levels before the pandemic. The Japan Tourism Agency reports domestic travel this year will be marked by shorter trips and a drop in spending.
Travel agency JTB does expect a rise in Japanese international travelers this year—up nearly 10% from a year ago. And they will be spending more—but not out of extravagance.
Mostly it's inflation — and the continued weakness of the yen — which this week buys about 13% less in dollars than it did a year ago.
