09/10 Yuzawa season numbers (Naeba takes hit, others do ok)

[muikabochi 208]

In the newspaper today.

 

Yuzawa town -- 2,340,800 skiers/snowboarders at the 13 ski resorts in Yuzawa this season.

 

That is down 8.2% since last season, making it the lowest number since the bubble (and presumably that means since quite a bit before then, that point confuses me a bit!)

 

Naeba showed the biggest decrease, with numbers now 1/3 what they were at peak times.

 

8,000,000 skiers visited Yuzawa in the 1992/1993 season.

That season Naeba had 3,180,000 people visit the resort. This season the number for Naeba was 1,067,000 people.

 

Quote: "Why the numbers have declined so much, we don't know".

 

Naeba 13.7% down (17,000 people)

Kagura 23% down.

Gala saw increases (up 26,332 people)

 

Other areas in Niigata:

 

Minamiuonuma (yey!) saw increases of 2.5% (1,130,000 people)

 

Joetsu Kokusai - 383,550 people (up 16,540)

Ishiuchi Maruyama - 278,800 people (up 2,060)

Centleisure Maiko - 255,400 people (up 12,800)

 

Myoko saw a decrease of 3.5% (804,000 people).

 

Commentary saying that perhaps lower resorts near to IC's (new ETC discounts) doing better than places further away like Naeba/Kagura.

 

I think I've typed that all out correctly!

 

 

[sanjo 2]

What has happend to Naeba?

Good to see other places with increases

[grungy-gonads 54]

3,180,000 to 1,067,000 in less than 20 years.

Those are some numbers.

 

The increase for Gala is probably in some part due to the fact that it wasn't closed half as much because of winds this season.

[thursday 1]

wow. Dramatic decreases. Naeba won't be holding on for long.

[stemik 14]

Kagura down 23% wow.....do you know if they were down the previous year as well?

[A lawyer 0]

Originally Posted By: muikabochi

Quote: "Why the numbers have declined so much, we don't know".

Good quote!

[deemacvee 0]

Maybe the bumper season meant that people didn't have to travel for 20mins or so from Echigo to Kagura to get good snow?

They could just hit the resorts in town.

I found Kagura pretty empty in mid Feb (not complaining!) but Naeba was like - who disturbed the ants nest? - buzzing!

[smileyrider 0]

Still look like big numbers to me, but imagine 3,180,000 people at one resort?! No wonder you couldn't see the snow!

[plonk 0]

I spent a day at Naeba in February.

It was a Monday, very quiet it was.

No complaints there.

Great snow too.

[osaka_bc_boarder 0]

good conditions at all resorts nationwide meant naeba and kagura were hit bad...people could go anywhere and get good snow.... 3 years ago when it was a crap season, there was a line 300 meters long at the kagura ropeway every saturday by 11am! also naeba and kagura are difficult to get to from the station ( if ` difficult to get to ` means a bus ! )

[muikabochi 208]

Fair point but apart from just after the good snowfalls, Kagura almost always has the 'best' conditions in this area. I suppose lots of people don't think that is worth the extra effort if there is something closer or easier.

 

It will be interesting to see how it stacks up April when other places are closed.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Wasn't the expressway 1000 yen supposed to encourage people to go too?

And from what I gather, isn't Mitsumata just 10 minutes from the expressway, hardly a huge trek.

[best skier in hakuba 5]

People perhaps going to places closer to the expressways.

Can't see that being good for hotels either...

[backforgood 0]

I remember going to Naeba in 1994. That was after the peak but it was still madly busy. I liked the place I wouldn't mind going back to it when it's not so busy actually.