No.2724
Leisure-Related Markets in Japan: Key Research Findings 2020
Conventional Leisure Industry Required to Change through New Service Development as Lifestyles Changed in COVID-19 Calamity
Yano Research Institute (the President, Takashi Mizukoshi) carried out a survey on the domestic leisure-related markets and found out the market trends for 2020.
Summary of Research Findings
The research about 85 domestic leisure-related markets was carried out, which ranged extensively, including the markets of travel and food services. Because the leisure industry is formed by a broad range of related markets, it is no exaggeration to say that everything in the world can be related to leisure. The report covers various categories within the leisure industry.
Leisure-related markets do not only include conventional ones like golf and ski, but also new sports such as streetball (street basketball) and beach volleyball. The conventional markets have been shrinking year by year in terms of number of participants and market sizes, which led them to grope for developing new service forms or acquiring new customer bases, by which to invigorate entire industry.
Influence of COVID-19 infections to leisure-related markets has been enormous: While the travel market has been seriously damaged, demand for online services including music streaming and paid movie streaming has been favorable. The sales of government-controlled gambling sports have also increased as online betting became available. Outdoor leisure such as camping and fishing has attracted attention, as it prevents people from being close to one another. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has lingered, lifestyles have altered, changing the required forms of leisure.
Noteworthy Topics
Seriously damaged Travel Market in COVID-19 Calamity Continues Developing New Tourism Forms
COVID-19 infections have inflicted severe damage on many leisure-related markets, in particular, the travel market tremendously. As each country restricted overseas traveling and entrance, once-expanded inbound tourists (tourists from overseas) have suddenly vanished. Domestic travelling demand has also diminished as people were asked not to travel and stay home as much as possible.
In such a situation, the travel industry has developed products and services responsive to the society and lifestyles that were changed by the pandemic thereby restore growth. In recent years, new styles of tourism have drawn attention such as green, eco, sports, industrial, educational, and medical tourism. Unlike conventional tourism that is to visit some famed sightseeing spots or to be given some services, new tourism focuses on a specific theme, or provides new forms of services such as experiences, communication exchanges, practical use, etc. Because the range of themes can be extensive, new tourism services with different themes are developed year by year.
One of the tourisms that have intrigued people in the COVID-19 calamity is micro-tourism. It is a trip to a local destination for the residents living not so far away to easily travel by their own car or other accessible ways, boosted by subsidies from local governments. In addition, growing numbers of businesses have started providing online virtual tours, which enable the tourists to experience pseudo-sightseeing and travelling. Online virtual trips, however, have not been satisfactorily profitable, causing some businesses to position them as a mere part of sales promotions. In addition, new entry by other industries forced them to differentiate from others in terms of contents. Meanwhile, the pandemic has fueled telework and expanded working styles, which led many accommodation facilities to start responding to “workation” and “telework” plans. Also, companies in other industries such as real estate companies and Karaoke stores have begun offering rooms for teleworkers. Various new styles of tourism have kept on being developed during just several months after the nationwide state of emergency since April 2020, which indicates enormous empirical values accumulated in Japanese tourism-related companies. At the same time, these values are expected to motivate the market to grow once again after the pandemic.
Research Outline
2.Research Object： Domestic leisure-related companies and operators
3.Research Methogology： Face-to-face and online interviews by the expert researchers, and literature research
About Leisure-Related Markets
This research targeted the following leisure-related markets:
Travel market (travel agents, travel websites), Traveler transportation market (airlines, railroads, express buses, sightseeing buses, and chartered buses, cruising, ferries, passenger sea routes, rental cars), Accommodation market (hotels, Japanese-style hotels, resort club membership, other accommodations (public accommodation, inns, youth hostels, capsule hotels, guest houses, vacation rentals), condominiums in resort areas, second houses, theme parks, amusement parks, other leisure parks (water parks, farm parks (project), tourist farms flower parks, botanical gardens, indoor playgrounds, museums (science museums, art museums, zoos, aquariums, food theme parks), spas, sports watching, sports events, exhibitions, cultural events, console games, consumer games, amusement facilities, arcade games, pachinko market, Karaoke market, Public Gambling market (Japan central horse races, local horse races, bicycle races, boat races, motor racing, lotteries, toto (sports promotion lottery), golf courses, ski ground, ski resort, fitness/sports clubs, other sports facilities (bowling alleys, tennis clubs, futsal grounds/courts, pool bars, batting centers, climbing gyms), Sporting Gear Market (golf gear, ski/snowboard items, tennis goods, baseball/softball goods, soccer/futsal goods, athletic clothing, sports shoes), Outdoor Sports Market (mountain climbing/trekking, trail running, caravan sites, walking, canoes/ kayak, adventure parks), Marine Sports Market (yachts, motor boats, surfing, wind surfing, jet boats, scuba diving, skin diving), fishing market, motor sports, motor cycle market, sports bicycles, running, Other Sports Market (dance/ballet, table tennis, badminton, skating, yoga, darts, sky sports, new sports), movies/films market, plays, theaters, show business, ticket distribution market, motion pictures software/ movie streaming market, music software/streaming market, broadcasting market, culture schools/classes market, gardening/kitchen gardens market, urban hotels, bridal market, food service industries (fast food, family restaurants, etc.)
＜Products and Services in the Market＞
Leisure-related markets, Travel market (travel agents, travel websites), Traveler transportation market (airlines, railroads, express buses, sightseeing buses, and chartered buses, cruising, ferries, passenger sea routes, rental cars), Accommodation market (hotels, Japanese-style hotels, resort club membership, other accommodations (public accommodation, inns, youth hostels, capsule hotels, guest houses, vacation rentals), condominiums in resort areas, second houses, theme parks, amusement parks, other leisure parks (water parks, farm parks (project), tourist farms flower parks, botanical gardens, indoor playgrounds, museums (science museums, art museums, zoos, aquariums, food theme parks), spas, sports watching, sports events, exhibitions, cultural events, console games, consumer games, amusement facilities, arcade games, pachinko market, Karaoke market, Public Gambling market (Japan central horse races, local horse races, bicycle races, boat races, motor racing, lotteries, toto (sports promotion lottery), golf courses, ski ground, ski resort, fitness/sports clubs, other sports facilities (bowling alleys, tennis clubs, futsal grounds/courts, pool bars, batting centers, climbing gyms), Sporting Gear Market (golf gear, ski/snowboard items, tennis goods, baseball/softball goods, soccer/futsal goods, athletic clothing, sports shoes), Outdoor Sports Market (mountain climbing/trekking, trail running, caravan sites, walking, canoes/ kayak, adventure parks), Marine Sports Market (yachts, motor boats, surfing, wind surfing, jet boats, scuba diving, skin diving), fishing market, motor sports, motor cycle market, sports bicycles, running, Other Sports Market (dance/ballet, table tennis, badminton, skating, yoga, darts, sky sports, new sports), movies/films market, plays, theaters, show business, ticket distribution market, motion pictures software/ movie streaming market, music software/streaming market, broadcasting market, culture schools/classes market, gardening/kitchen gardens market, urban hotels, bridal market, food service industries (fast food, family restaurants, etc.)
Published Report
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