SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted May 20, 2009 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted May 20, 2009 I don't know Mamabear. Opening up bookings is surely a good idea and one that I actually brought up all the way back when I was working there full time. I used to work full time at NASPA and spent a lot of my time trying to open it up and make it a more international-friendly resort. I've got to say that the general manager at the time (who initially got me working there) was very open to ideas and many things did change and improve. Since I left (which is 8 years ago now) they haven't 'replaced me' as such and though my company still does work for them, it is much less than my previous full-time employee workload and I'm not involved in major decisions. So I don't get the insight that I used to. Regarding international visitors and booking early. Indeed many do book early - and increasingly so - but the reality is that a very large number of people also book after summer and even into winter. For example, the peak time for traffic to our Places to Stay section (as a whole) is very much after summer and even into the beginning of the season. And a lot of that traffic is coming from overseas. Different regions do have different peaks and issues affecting them. Certainly Yuzawa will be quite different from somewhere like Niseko where bookings are being made much earlier. That will surely be reflected in the policies of places in those areas. All very interesting and I'll bring the subject up again with NASPA when I'm next there, see what they say. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 All interesting stuff SJ#1. I'd be curious to hear as well. I suppose another factor driving early bookings is places being booked out. I know there is usually somewhere that you can get late notice, but it is often not exactly what you were looking for, and you might have long waits at airports for connecting flights, and have to hang around for an hour or two to get the next available seat on a bus (obviously frame of reference being Niseko here). EG: We booked just a couple of days out from a long weekend for our kids (but not for the country/state) to nip over to Thredbo. We booked thru Wotif and got flights, hire car and accomodation - we had 6 people in what amounted to standard sized hotel room space - it was crowded to say the least, but it was OK for the 3 nights - and we were just happy to get away. But for an international trip we would not be prepared to take those chances and stay at that kind of level of accomodation.... Just ruminating my thoughts out loud... Link to post Share on other sites
Willy08 0 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I am planning on coming over in Jan 2011 and I am already sniffing around looking for the best places to stay at a reasonable cost at various resorts. Once I have flights booked in Jan next year I will certainly be wanting to secure accommodation for my family asap. Waiting for places to open bookings mid year would probably mean they won't get a look in for our business. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Out of interest, where are you thinking of going? In the case of Yuzawa, you could probably get a decent place at a decent hotel without much notice at all. Perhaps even none at all on some weekends and definitely on almost any weekday. It's not all fully booked up way in advance - or even at all! - with exceptions of course on the very peak times. The place has way too many hotel rooms for the demand that exists. I would guess that apart from some peak weekends, many (most?) Japanese ski resorts would be the pretty much the same. There are many differences between a place like Niseko and Yuzawa (of course!), perhaps one big one being the fact that there is no need to fight for flights into Tokyo. There isn't the limit that there is for flights into Sapporo. And once you are in Tokyo, there are tons of regular options to get to places like Yuzawa (there are probably well over 20 shinkansen each day for a start). Some places might try to convince you into thinking that things are all booked out early, probably in order to actually get you to do the same. [bTW disclaimer: I'm not suggesting that people do not book in advance!] Regarding Napsa, I may be wrong and SJ1 will know this more of course but I believe I heard that it was one of the few resorts in Yuzawa that actually did pretty well this last season. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted May 21, 2009 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted May 21, 2009 Yes I would say that (last part about NASPA) is correct muikabochi. Link to post Share on other sites
best skier in hakuba 5 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Thats the skier-only place isn't it? Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted May 21, 2009 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted May 21, 2009 Yes thats right. Link to post Share on other sites
RusholmeRuffian 0 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Are many places skier-only in Japan? Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Not many RusholmeRuffian - just a few.... Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 In this area, just NASPA I think. There aren't many skier-only resorts left, but they use it as a "selling point". Link to post Share on other sites
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