Since 2012, tourist arrivals from May to November have consistently matched those from December to April. According to data from Niseko Town Office and C9 Hotelworks Market Research, visitor arrivals in 2016 reached 1,671,302, with the percentage of visitors in winter and summer reaching 54% and 46% respectively.
Japan’s Niseko, a darling in winter, is fast becoming a hot favourite among tourists even in the summer. As with the evolution of other global legacy ski destinations, Niseko is now seeing the opportunity to become a leading year-around proposition.
Since 2012, tourist arrivals from May to November have consistently matched those from December to April. According to data from Niseko Town Office and C9 Hotelworks Market Research, visitor arrivals in 2016 reached 1,671,302, with the percentage of visitors in winter and summer reaching 54% and 46% respectively.
Two major pipelines for tourist arrivals are the New Chitose Airport near Sapporo, which has experienced an impressive 10-year compound annual growth rate of 13.9% and the introduction of the Shinkansen bullet train service to Hokkaido from Tokyo in 2016.
Arrivals from Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore are also fuelling regional demand and pushing the destination higher in the growth cycle.
Global hotel brands such as Park Hyatt, The Pavilions to Ritz-Carlton are also entering the market, which look to transform what was once a seasonal market into a mainstream year-round destination, opined Bill Barnett, managing director, C9 Hotelworks.