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2004
White Paper on Leisure
“Realizing a Country Built on a New Type of Tourism:
Grand Tourism”
(July 30, 2004)
Leisure Development Research Center |
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This
white paper is the only publication in Japan that comprehensively
and chronologically analyzes the state of leisure in Japan
from both the demand and supply perspectives. It is the 28th
edition since the publication of the first white paper in
1977.
Present state of leisure activities in Japan: “PC”
and “lottery” are showing continuous increases
In 2003, the lives of the Japanese people remained bound by
financial and time constraints, and the sense of comfortable
living was still lacking. Their participation in the 91 leisure
activities that were regularly monitored was generally low,
following the trend of the previous year. Overseas travel
and other sightseeing and outdoor amusement type leisure activities
continued to lag due in part to the outbreak of SARS. On the
other hand, a continuous increase was mainly seen in the use
of personal computers. With a user population exceeding 45
million, PCs have completely taken root in society as a popular
information-type leisure activity. “Lottery” is
also showing steady growth selling dreams to businessmen.
Trends of the leisure industry and market: -1.2% stagnant
growth over the previous year
The leisure market has been gradually shrinking since 1996.
In 2003, it grossed 82.155 trillion yen and marked a -1.2%
growth over the previous year. The leisure industry still
has not found its way out of the long tunnel of sluggish growth,
and structurally, it is still largely dependent on the pachinko
market. Other markets showing relatively steady growth included
fitness clubs (sports category), digital AV equipment (hobby
and creativity category), and game centers (recreation category).
However, 2003 saw a rise in businesses that successfully cultivated
new markets and new customers in areas outside the existing
market framework. The white paper organized them into four
categories—“health, safety, healing,” “responses
to new media,” “borderless Asia,” and “children’s
market”—and presented relevant examples and data.
Special report—“Realizing a country built on
a new type of tourism: Grand Tourism”
The Japanese government declared 2003 as the “first year
in realizing a country built on tourism,” and started
to take action in achieving the target of attracting 10 million
tourists to Japan. Along with this increasing momentum related
to tourism, travel styles of the Japanese have also begun
to change in recent years. Group tours traditionally favored
by the Japanese are now gradually giving way to individual
tours and family travel. A questionnaire survey on the changing
style of tourism revealed strong desires toward “purpose-specific
travel,” such as “visiting world heritages,”
“cruising,” “attending sports event,”
and “participating in eco-tourism,” among twenty
“new travel” concepts.
These new travels allow individuals to travel independently
with a specific purpose in mind, experience the culture of
the region they visit, and enhance their knowledge or spirit
through that experience. They can be called “Grand Tourism”
of the 21st century, and are expected to increase in the future.
As “conditions” for promoting Grand Tourism, the
white paper raised such issues as the necessity of environmental
considerations for “consecutive holidays” which
were commonly demanded at all levels of society, support measures
for family travel, and the development of a “tourism-related
industrial complex” by regional initiatives. |
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