After being closed to visitors for over two years, the award-winning Japan specialist hosted more than 2,000 visitors between March and April alone.
BROOMFIELD, CO – InsideJapan Tours declares 2023 as likely to be the busiest year of travel ever and the start of more positive things to come. Japan’s cherry blossom season has always been the most popular time of year for a journey to the Land of the Rising Sun, with people looking to experience the country looking pretty in pink. This year was the first since spring 2019 that international travelers had been allowed into Japan to enjoy the ‘Hanami’ season, which did not disappoint.
“Despite some difficulties around flight availability and other services, and the decision to halt new bookings for travel between April-June, back in late February 2023, this year has equaled InsideJapan’s busiest ever blossom season, and approximately 30% of those sales have been through our advisor partners,” said Colorado Branch Director, Jason Martin.
InsideJapan carried around 2,000 passengers on a combination of Self-Guided Adventures and Small Group Tours during the peak blossom period, from mid-March into early April.
“It felt that Japan was more popular than ever this year as certain places in Tokyo and Kyoto were very busy with what seemed to be mainly international tourists,” said Tyler Palma, Japan-based Head of Operations for InsideJapan Tours.
Japan as a destination is on many travel wish lists these days. Still, InsideJapan Tours sees the expected hot spots – the so-called ‘Golden Route’ of Tokyo, Hakone national park, and Kyoto – taking a backseat to points of interest that are off the beaten track.
Palma added, “Spring is a beautiful time of year, but places such as Kyoto were very busy. However, we are fortunate that we are free to move well away from the crowds and the guidebooks to ensure that the Japan experience remains special.”
However, Japan’s popularity doesn’t stop in spring. The tour operator is seeing an increasing amount of adventurous family travel bookings for the summer. Giving way to Japan’s second most popular travel season is autumn, for its impressive display of red leaves that cover mountainsides and temple gardens during this enjoyable season.
Martin said, “Bookings for travel in October are already forecast to exceed that of 2019, which was a year that saw record figures for InsideJapan. However, the most impressive ‘Koyo’ autumn leaves are usually captured from November into early December even.” With the fall season continuing into the early winter months, the big visitor numbers are expected to continue.
Martin continued, “We are very confident that Japan’s popularity will not be a short-lived trend as springtime Small Group Tours and Self-Guided Adventures are already selling for 2024 and beyond. We want to be able to give incredible trips and the best service that we have become known for, and we want to encourage all agent partners to start having the ‘Japan in cherry blossom’ conversations with their customers as soon as possible to ensure that we can help give them the best trip possible”.
InsideJapan is already selling Self-Guided Adventures for cherry blossom and fall seasons in 2024. The award-winning Japan specialist has also launched a full schedule of 2024 Small Group Tours, which include cherry blossom season-timed trips and a brand-new superior ‘Majestic Japan’ tour.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
