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How
Was It For You Niigata?
2002/2003 Season |
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Over the last few summers
on SnowJapan.Com we have published various statistics from various winter sports
regions of Japan and tried to make find some trends in the numbers.
Over the coming weeks, we'll once again be taking a close
look at the statistics from a number of snow resort regions of Japan for the
2002/3 season that was. As always, we will
have in-depth numbers from Yuzawa town (where SnowJapan.Com HQ is
based), as well as the other main regions of Niigata prefecture. We'll also
be taking a look at some other major snow regions of Japan including the Shiga
Kogen and Hakuba
regions of Nagano Prefecture, and also the resorts in
Iwate Prefecture.
Once more we would like to thank the Yuzawa
Tourist Association, the Niigata Prefecture Office and the other sources of
information for their cooperation. Please do note that the numbers are provided to the
authorities by the resorts themselves.
First of all, let's take a look at the total numbers for
Niigata Prefecture as a whole:
Niigata
Prefecture - 02/03 Season
Total number of skiers and
snowboarders
at resorts in Niigata Prefecture
(Official data: December 02 - March
03)
|
|
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
TOTAL |
|
'00/'01 |
1,165,269 |
2,777,980 |
3,108,581 |
2,340,848 |
9,392,678 |
|
'01/'02 |
1,213,108 |
2,781,540 |
2,977,831 |
2,214,043 |
9,186,522 |
|
'02/'03 |
1,271,060 |
2,694,610 |
2,676,600 |
2,055,520 |
8,697,790 |
|
Change
on previous
year |
104.8% |
96.9% |
89.9% |
92.8% |
94.7% |
After a good start to the season
with early snowfalls and healthy numbers of guests in December, once the New
Year arrived the numbers continued the downward trend of recent years. Overall, compared
to the 2001/2002 season, there was a decrease in the number of visitors to
resorts in Niigata Prefecture of over 5%. On the bright side, that's
still nearly an incredible 9 million visitors!
Niigata
Prefecture - 02/03 Season
Breakdown of numbers
of skiers and snowboarders
at resorts in Niigata Prefecture
(Official
data:
December 02 - March 03)
| |
NUMBER
OF
SKIERS |
NUMBER
OF
SNOWBOARDERS
|
TOTAL
|
|
96/97 |
9,434,000 |
2,840,000 |
12,274,000 |
|
97/98 |
8,080,000 |
2,890,000 |
10,970,000 |
|
98/99 |
7,217,000 |
3,511,000 |
10,728,000
|
|
99/00 |
6,623,000 |
3,708,000 |
10,331,000 |
|
00/01 |
5,502,000 |
3,831,000 |
9,333,000 |
|
01/02 |
5,268,000 |
3,919,000 |
9,187,000 |
|
02/03 |
4,981,000 |
3,717,000 |
8,698,000 |
|
02/03
season compared to 6 seasons ago |
52.9% |
130.9% |
70.9% |
Taking a look at the Skier/Snowboarder breakdown, it shows us
that for the first time since snowboarding arrived in Japan the total numbers
of snowboarders at the resorts in Niigata Prefecture decreased compared to the
previous season. Until last season the actual number of snowboarders had been
increasing each year. However, compared to the 96/97 season the number of
snowboarders has increased by over 30%.
The decrease in the number of skiers is much more marked with a
year on year decline since the early 90's. Last season there were just over 50% of the numbers
seen six years ago on the Niigata slopes.
In general however, the ratio of skiers to boarders has
remained unchanged since last season.
|
Total |
Skiers |
Snowboarders |
|
8,698,000 |
4,981,000 |
3,717,000 |
|
100% |
57.3% |
42.7% |
| |
unchanged
% since last season |
Yuzawa Town - 02/03 Season
Once more the numbers in Yuzawa are down since the previous year, with a total
of 4,866,020 skiers and snowboarders visiting the resorts of the town from
November 2002 until May 2003. That number represents a 4.1% decrease
since the previous season, and just two-thirds of the number of people who
visited the
resorts just six seasons ago.
YUZAWA
TOWN
Total Number of Skiers and Snowboarders
(Official data, DECEMBER 02 - MAY 03)
|
YUZAWA TOWN RESORTS AS A
WHOLE
(includes data from all 19 resorts in the town)
|
|
Month
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
|
Season
|
|
'95/'96
|
26,000
|
884,800
|
2,064,000
|
2,063,400
|
1,895,600
|
353,400
|
70,800
|
|
'96/'97
|
32,200
|
902,100
|
1,777,000
|
1,893,100
|
1,792,000
|
235,900
|
38,500
|
|
'97/'98
|
27,100
|
718,500
|
1,605,400
|
1,784,500
|
1,678,600
|
276,300
|
24,300
|
|
'98/'99
|
28,000
|
611,790
|
1,695,250
|
1,710,440
|
1,530,630
|
259,540
|
48,210
|
|
'99/'00
|
23,700
|
632,360
|
1,605,580
|
1,663,680
|
1,420,930
|
269,420
|
55,870
|
|
'00/'01
|
24,500
|
648,690
|
1,385,520
|
1,499,450
|
1,305,700
|
254,200
|
54,200
|
|
'01/'02 |
10,700 |
651,430 |
1,404,370 |
1,466,390 |
1,297,560 |
207,890 |
37,800 |
|
'02/'03 |
38,500 |
716,350 |
1,363,450 |
1,315,560 |
1,195,919 |
193,580 |
42,670 |
|
Season
|
TOTAL NUMBER
OF GUESTS
|
MONTHLY
ANALYSIS
|
YEAR ON YEAR
COMPARISON
2003 compared
to 2002
|
YEAR ON YEAR
COMPARISON
2003 compared
to 1996
|
|
'95/'96
|
7,358,000
|
November
|
359.8%
|
148%
|
|
'96/'97
|
6,674,800
|
December
|
110.0%
|
80%
|
|
'97/'98
|
6,117,100
|
January
|
97.1%
|
66%
|
|
'98/'99
|
5,887,560
|
February
|
89.7%
|
63%
|
|
'99/'00
|
5,671,540
|
March
|
92.2%
|
63%
|
|
'00/'01
|
5,172,260
|
April
|
93.1%
|
54%
|
|
'01/'02
|
5,076,140
|
May
|
112.9%
|
60%
|
|
'02/'03
|
4,866,020
|
SEASON
|
95.9%
|
66% |
Some resorts in Yuzawa fared better than others, and
in
the next feature we
take a closer look at how the numbers panned out at 10 of the main resorts in
the town....
NEXT
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