krausej 0 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 All of the resorts in Japan sound great, but what are the differences between them? What are the top resorts known for? It sounds like all of them have great snow & terrain -- but is there any differentiation? Thanks for your help! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Presuming this is not a joke or wind-up, I suggest you do some basic reading on here. How about this as a start: http://www.snowjapan.com/e/start-here.html Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Polarizing on those which embrace change and the foreign market and those who do not. But that is almost certainly a generalization. Link to post Share on other sites
tripitaka 0 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 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. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Those with hype. Those will not. Those that deserve. Those that do not. Link to post Share on other sites
Hokkaidough 4 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The word "differentiate" reminds me of maths at college. I never really understood all that lot. Link to post Share on other sites
krausej 0 Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 Maybe my question wasn't too clear, sorry. I guess I'm just wondering if the ski resorts have certain reputations. Like, In the USA, Steamboat is known for "champagne powder" while Vail is known for attracting a lot of rich international skiers, and Aspen is known for having a lot of movie star visits. Do Japanese resorrts have any repurations like this? I think Niseko has a reputation for attracting tons of australians? Link to post Share on other sites
Weegeoff 0 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Quote: Vail is known for attracting a lot of rich international skiers, I will be in Hakuba late March early April Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Originally Posted By: Justin21 Maybe my question wasn't too clear, sorry. I guess I'm just wondering if the ski resorts have certain reputations. Like, In the USA, Steamboat is known for "champagne powder" while Vail is known for attracting a lot of rich international skiers, and Aspen is known for having a lot of movie star visits. Do Japanese resorrts have any repurations like this? I think Niseko has a reputation for attracting tons of australians? Not only Austrralians, but they are the ones who stand out more 'cos they look gaijin. In 2004 visitors to Hokkaido included over 80,000 from Australia, over 200,000 from Taiwan. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Very few of those 200,000 came in winter though. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Taiwanese have a big thing for Hokkaido. I have alot of colleagues from Taiwan, they like the really beautiful lavender fields. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Big Taiwanese contingent go to Zao during the winter apparently. Direct flights the reason. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Would that be to Yamagata? Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Yes. Direct flights. Lots of Koreans too. Including one group of first timers who went straight to the top and off the back of the mountain at dusk Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Koreans... they're nuts. The realatively spartan crowds in Japan would drive any Korean skiers nuts. Link to post Share on other sites
yamayamayama 2 Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why? They like crowds do they? Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Originally Posted By: thursday. In 2004 visitors to Hokkaido included over 80,000 from Australia, over 200,000 from Taiwan. So of the 87700 Australian tourists that visited Japan in 2004 you are saying that 80000 visited Hokkaido. Very impressive stats there. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Originally Posted By: TJ OZ Originally Posted By: thursday. In 2004 visitors to Hokkaido included over 80,000 from Australia, over 200,000 from Taiwan. So of the 87700 Australian tourists that visited Japan in 2004 you are saying that 80000 visited Hokkaido. Very impressive stats there. Well, I'm glad somebody is paying attention in class. Good spot TJ, I mixed up my HK stats for Aus stats. This from the JETRO "Foreign Tourist Visits and Investment in Niseko Area" report 2006. These figures for 2004: Taiwan 208,600 Hong Kong 82,750 Korea 63,850 China 12,050 Asia Others 11,250 America 9,100 Russia 8,700 Australia 14,650 Others 18,100 Total 427,050 Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Significantly more than 14,650 Australians in 2007/08. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 but got any figures for a good comparison? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Nothing concrete unfortunately. An informed guestimate. I know that 1 Australian tour operator brings in more than half of the 14,650 figure quoted above. And there are MANY operators in the area now. Plus a number of homeowners go the independent route. Would be interesting to see the per person spend too. Typically the Australians spend the same amount as the Hong Kong & Singapore visitors per day during winter, but more importantly tend to stay twice as long. Link to post Share on other sites
krausej 0 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 wow, guys, this is awesome information. you rock!! Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Would I be right in guessing that the per person is going up in Niseko? (there seems to be more and more expensive places up there) Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I'd say so. As an example the price per night for accommodation during the busy period (end of December through to end of January) is going up 30% for winter 2008/09. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 30%? Wow. I have asked a few people I know round here who have places - 2 said the prices will be the same (so effectively lowering them due to the increase in costs etc) and one said they will increase by 200 yen a night! Link to post Share on other sites
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