tripitaka

Originally Posted By: MikePow Because of the lack of accommodation in the Niseko Resort Area, the majority of visitors coming this winter have pre-booked and already paid the majority of their holiday costs. For next winter I would expect the prices to stabilise and certainly not see the close to 30% hike we saw for this winter. The one thing about the Japanese ski experience is it is still better and cheaper than the domestic Australian product (Australians being the biggest market share for winter visitation). That will maintain the market IMHO. The introduction of finance packag

I know I've touched on this before, but I wonder impact what the falling Aussie dollar will have on visitor numbers to Japan. By the way things are going, it will be 20& more expensive for Aussies to come here at the end of the year. You also wonder what will happen to all those new condos being built for the Aussie market. I wonder kind of effect that will have. The condos aren't that cheap and a weak dollar won't make them that much cheaper. Property crash?

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver Middle class pain is it? You know nothing about me mate. Except that you think you're hard done by because you can't travel on an airline cheaply and it hasn't really occured to you why. Don't think there's a conspiracy against the middle class or whatever. If you can afford to ski, you haven't got too much to whinge about.

Originally Posted By: thursday. I don't give a shit how much pain TB is in. Even if he gets reamed on an economy class ticket? How heartless of you!

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver Originally Posted By: tripitaka Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver here here! Its always the case of keeping the little man down. I hate BA for exactly the reason stated, they don't give a toss about Economy passengers. All they care about is the high-end flyer. Flight charges are ridiculous, recently I have looked at flights home for Xmas and the tax is more than the fare!! How does that make sense?? Oh, the wretchedness of being the "little man". Have you ever considered what % of the world's population has even been to an airport let alone get

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver here here! Its always the case of keeping the little man down. I hate BA for exactly the reason stated, they don't give a toss about Economy passengers. All they care about is the high-end flyer. Flight charges are ridiculous, recently I have looked at flights home for Xmas and the tax is more than the fare!! How does that make sense?? Oh, the wretchedness of being the "little man". Have you ever considered what % of the world's population has even been to an airport let alone get on a plane? Think about that next time your hurtling down the slopes i

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Except in Japan they're lending Yen not AUD and their rate is is something like LIBOR + 3.80, which is quite a bit more of a mark up than what they are offering borrowers for investment properties in Aust. They're not the only ones, by the way. Good point. In fact, it's problem no different from investing in Oz!!

Originally Posted By: thursday. newsletters "Niseko financing becomes a reality with xxxxxxxxx Bank xxxxxxxxxxx Bank has announced significant progress in expanding their Japan Snowfields Property Loan packages. Initially only open to Australians with existing property in Niseko, financing is now being offered to residents of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and New Zealand." CBA. You could say that it is a vote of confidence in the market (oe else another dodgy Aussie corporate scam). As for CBA, they wouldn't want this getting around the media back home where they've been push

Train is by far the best option. Can you navigate Japanese raods and highways? Bullet train from Kyoto to Nagoya, then change for an express straight to Hakuba station. No stress and you can kick back with a few beers and enjoy the views.

Interesting to note that NZ's largest property financier for resort property shut down today. The resort property market is in "meltdown" according to the TVNZ news. It's NZ's very own sub-prime in the snow. Let's hope it won't happen to Niseko.

Originally Posted By: MikePow Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Also, to mention it again because you obviously missed it last time - Niseko is not heavily reliant on Australian residents. Australia could sink beneath the waves and Niseko would continue on quite nicely I would think. And in response to another poster, there is a fundamental difference between Queenstown and the Niseko area. It's called snow. I was waiting for that to come. You're 100% correct, even though QT is a world-famous resort because there are other things to do and there are world-class facilitie

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Also, to mention it again because you obviously missed it last time - Niseko is not heavily reliant on Australian residents. Australia could sink beneath the waves and Niseko would continue on quite nicely I would think. I did miss it, and I honestly didn't know. From what the media have said, the Aussie invasion revived Niseko, and the property boom wouldn't have happened without them. As for QT, the whole resort would suffer terribly if the Aussies were to disappear. QT is rated as a premier international resort so that's saying something.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Since when is QT any kind of comparison to Niseko? Because both are heavily reliant on Aussie custom (with QT probably having a greater mix of international visitors).

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Since when is QT any kind of comparison to Niseko? There are hundreds of millions of people within a 5 hr flight of Niseko. There are more millionaires within a 5 hour flight of Niseko than there are people in Aust and NZ combined. Aust in particular needs to get over itself. It just doesn't rate. I think you're missing the point about Niseko and what has gone on there. What has happened to Niseko and what ought to happen to places like Hakuba and Shiga and others is that it got dragged into the global market. Instead of being a local resort designed around Ja

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles For all their visibility and the nonstop hype, how many Aussies actually come to Japan to go skiing? Isn't it still under 30,000? That's not very many people for a wealthy country of twenty odd million to sustain. Exactly Wiggs. Trips, have you actually been to Niseko? I remember you posting about Niseko being subject to the Japanese property factors and now you're banging on about other bubbles. Maybe you ought to get up there and check it out, so you have a better idea about what you're talking about. Here are so

Personally, I'd rather be in a bar in the evening. Night skiing's a novelty that gives me next to no satisfaction.

Originally Posted By: MikePow Originally Posted By: Mr Wiggles Originally Posted By: MikePow The Niseko area is rapidly becoming the Emperor's New Clothes of Japan, dare I say it world skiing/snowboarding. If the mountain companies don't start investing in their infrastructure pronto - lifts, grooming, signage, transportation - then this area's 'bubble' will burst and people will go elsewhere. No matter how easy it is to get here, how good the snow is, how accommodating the slopes are, how much English is spoken etc etc etc. Is the resort that bad? Is that what customers say?

SJF, the link to the Wind Jacket Hotel site doesn't work. Also, they are advertising one week accommodation with flights, transfers, etc. from $900 (7 days). Don't know if there's any typos or mistakes with that, but you might want to let them know.

Originally Posted By: big-will Don't bother reading folks! It's like one of those tiresome Christmas songs that gets put out every year and doesn't die. This is simply the same old, the July 08 Remix/Edit with 5 words changed since last year. At least a local Hakuba person (Tony) got his 5 cents in. It was the only post worth anything. How many times do you need to be told that some Aussies like to drink and Niseko isn't a "cultural experience".

Another blog article about Japan with the usual stuff http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2008/07/wasabi_powder_skiing_japan_hot.html

Originally Posted By: Fattwins the price rose 100 yen last season I think. They need to raise prices or the gas is going to kill them. That's what I was thinking FT. Do the lifts run on diesel? But that's just one fuel expense (but obviously a major one). I'd have thought that tix need to go up around 20-25%.

Originally Posted By: TJ OZ Buy your tickets on a day to day basis. That way you can choose where you want to go each day. There is no time saved buying a multi mountain pass and a very small money saving. For me, I like to ride the best mountain with the best conditions on a particular day and if that will cost me an extra 400y then so be it. Actually on a holiday where people are spending thousands of dollars overall, it amazes me why anybody would go for the multiday lift pass here in Hakuba. Good point. Do you think ticket prices will increase this year to cover increased fuel costs

Originally Posted By: thursday. Polarizing on those which embrace change and the foreign market and those who do not. But that is almost certainly a generalization. There's some great resorts that haven't embraced change, like SunAlpina in Hakuba. Sure it's not "steep and deep" (well...deep enough in parts), but the old guys giving you the thumbs up when you come out of the trees covered in powder are pretty cool.

Originally Posted By: Stuntcok I think you will find that ski industry jobs pay a lot less than their equivilant in other businesses. It is simple supply and demand. For the same price I would soooooo much rather be a marketing director at Niseko than a marketing director for lion toothpaste. The two salaries will diverge until they find equilibrium. BTW the average household income is over 4.m yen in Japan, average salary is 3.6m. The marketing director at Lion probably doesn't too badly. I know a few marketing guys at Unilever Japan. Boys get taken care of for a cushy gig. I

There is no Khartoum University in Japan. But the point remains, salaries, even in the tech industry, are low. The marketing job in Niseko is more of a lifestyle choice and it may come with some nice accommodation. Where do you apply??