Golden week hotel bookings remain strong in Okinawa

Golden week hotel bookings remain strong in Okinawa

Many tourists crowded at the Makishi market street in Naha on April 23.


April 25, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo

Hotels and travel agencies expect a bumper Golden Week this year, with an increase in domestic and international tourists.

According to JTB Okinawa, domestic customers’ bookings for hotels in Okinawa were up about 20 percent from the same period last year. There also remains high demand for Okinawan tourism from Asia during Golden Week. Bookings for the resort hotels in Onna, Nago, and Motobu are high. According to the Kariyushi Group, the booking for the Okinawa Kariyushi Beach Resort Ocean Spa in Onna had a 43 percent increase from the previous year. The tourists’ reservations for the Okinawa Kariyushi Urban Resort Naha have also seen a 20 percent increase in the last half the golden week. “The domestic visitors’ travel destinations shifted to domestic from abroad due to the weak yen,” said a spokesperson of JTB.

The Naha City-based Okinawa Tourist Service said there has been a slight increase in group travel from Okinawa to the mainland such as Kansai and Tokyo area. Traveling abroad was almost on par with the previous year. Okinawans appear undettered by the consumption tax hike when it comes to taking advantage of direct flights from Naha to nearby destinations such as Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. These places are gaining in popularity among Okinawans. According to the Naha office of H.I.S, most tourists have made their bookings for hotels and tour travel during the second half of Golden Week from May 3 – 6. This relatively shorter than last year because golden week public holidays are not consecutive this year.

(English translation by T&CT)

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