muikabochi 208 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Some numbers from Niigata Prefecture, from 29th December until 14th January, in yesterdays newspaper. Sounds like a decent start, no doubt helped in a big way by there being much more snow and resorts able to open on time. Yuzawa 12 resorts in Yuzawa: 268130, up 16.8% on last year. Yuzawa Nakazato up 94.7% on last season. NASPA Ski Garden up 60.3% on last season. Interview with Yuzawa dudes: "more snow early on obviously is important, Tokyo people who were going to Tohoku are coming here" Minamiuonuma 10 resorts in Minamiuonuma: 114070, up 12.1% on last year. Centleisure Maiko up 65.8% on last season Joetsu Kokusai up 7.1% on last season Interview with Minamiuonuma dude: "the expressway connecting to make it easier for people from Tochigi and Ibaraki has helped" Myoko: 8 resorts in Myoko: 78685, up 1.1% on last year Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Nice to see the area is doing well - wonder how that compares to other areas, and if that have gone down? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Fukushima region numbers will be interesting to see. Resorts look totally empty on weekdays, they really do, so I hope this isn't just an 'earlier snow' + New Year holiday thing slanting the numbers. Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yeah, that's interesting. Also wonder how the region compares with areas, ie Hokkaido and Nagano, that normally receive more foreign visitors. Link to post Share on other sites
norcal 5 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Put 4 more down for Myoko and 2 more down for Maiko Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 so how did you like maiko then? Link to post Share on other sites
norcal 5 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 It was great for a weekday trip. Not too busy at all, decent snow all day. Only problem we had (and not really a problem) was that it seemed small. We basically hit the same run all day, down to the restaraunt just before the bunny hill, then took the lift all the way back up top. But like I said, that's not a complaint. Really enjoyed the place & the views were awesome. Might make another weekday trip up there sometime. Feel that it would be too crowded on the weekend. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Good to see some decent numbers there. Lets hope it keeps up. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 It was great for a weekday trip. Not too busy at all, decent snow all day. Only problem we had (and not really a problem) was that it seemed small. We basically hit the same run all day, down to the restaraunt just before the bunny hill, then took the lift all the way back up top. But like I said, that's not a complaint. Really enjoyed the place & the views were awesome. Might make another weekday trip up there sometime. Feel that it would be too crowded on the weekend. I suppose it is small compared to places like Kagura etc. But there's plenty to be had in that compact bowl area, and I think it's something like 6km down to base. How was the snow on the sides? Untouched like in muika's photos? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Fukushima region numbers will be interesting to see. Found some in the web edition of the Tokyo Shimbun (20 Jan., evening edition). Fukushima prefecture: Grandee Hatoriko: --Visitor numbers this season are running about 60-70% of a typical year. --Group reservations (school groups and the like, I assume) are down 50% this year. Adatara Kogen: --Visitor numbers range from 70% to less than 50% of a typical year, depending on the day. --The number of group reservations dropped from 40 last year to zero this year. Inawashiro: --Visitor numbers are running at about 80% of normal. Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, on the other hand, are doing well. Spring Valley Izumi Kogen in Sendai is up 20% this year. Though Geto Kogen in Iwate has had to cut back on nighter operations to save electricity, and fuel costs. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Whoa that is not good for the local industry Meta. Do you have a theory as to why the groups are down so dramatically? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Whoa that is not good for the local industry Meta. Do you have a theory as to why the groups are down so dramatically? The groups are mostly school groups, I think, doing ski camps. Presumably the parents didn't want their kids to go to Fukushima this year, so the schools cancelled or rescheduled for somewhere else -- like Yuzawa, which is dramatically up this year. Link to post Share on other sites
snowglob 0 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Are the Yuzawa numbers because of that though, or because the snow arrived much earlier this season? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Are the Yuzawa numbers because of that though, or because the snow arrived much earlier this season? Good point. For individual visitors, no way to know. School groups would probably have made their plans and reservations well before the season started, so would not be affected by the weather. We would need to know how the group reservations have changed in other regions to be able to guess where the groups that did not go to Fukushima this year went. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted January 26, 2012 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 26, 2012 Spoke with a few of the managers over at NASPA in Yuzawa today and they said that while there had been not directl "we have cancelled Fukushima to come here" style bookings, the number of groups has increased this season. They seem to be having a good season all round. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Some more statistics on Fukushima and Tohoku in general: As of the end of January, total visitor numbers in Tohoku at ski areas outside of Fukushima are running about the same as last year. However, the composition of visitors has changed, with bookings from Kansai and overseas sharply down. This is being more-or-less made up for by increased visitors from Tohoku and neighboring prefectures -- thought to be helped by the free highways, and a sense of obligation. Zao is running overall at 95% of last year's numbers, Appi Kogen at 102%. Fukushima is not doing as well, with total visitor numbers at Adatara Kogen at 37% of last year, and at Alts Bandai 62%. Things are better in the southern part of the prefecture, with Aizu Kogen Daikura running at 94% of last year. Link (by permission of SJ): http://www.kahoku.co...20209t75016.htm Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Interesting Metabo. I suppose also those numbers comparing to last season are a bit worse when you consider that the season was highly damaged or finished after March 11th... Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Memories fade did most of the resorts around Fukushima and other areas of Tohoku finish up their season on or soon after March 11th? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I would imagine that even if they didn't close, numbers after March 11th would have been down considerably on a usual season. Nozawa always stands out to me. They suffered some fairly significant damage to a few buildings and one gondola from the March 12th Nagano quake and didn't even close for a day!! I think they spent the Saturday morning checking lifts but opened in the afternoon. And even stayed open into May. Troopers! Link to post Share on other sites
Memphis Hawk 2 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Appi closed by the end of march as well as many other northern iwate and Aomori resorts, stating that the continuing strong aftershocks presented to great of a hazard to lift operation. Link to post Share on other sites
Saitaman 1 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 How was the earthquake for you guys up there in Misawa? Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 You like Grandeco don't you Metabo? How is it doing over there? How many times you able to go so far on your season ticket? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Interesting Metabo. I suppose also those numbers comparing to last season are a bit worse when you consider that the season was highly damaged or finished after March 11th... I think they are comparing Jan.-end numbers for this season with Jan.-end numbers from last season, so before March 11. big-will: pretty much everywhere in Fukushima closed down for the season after 3.11, though Grandeco managed to re-open from mid-April to Golden Week -- as did Zao in Yamagata. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 You like Grandeco don't you Metabo? How is it doing over there? How many times you able to go so far on your season ticket? I like it. Wish it were a bit bigger, but it has good variety for its size. My kid absolutely loves it though -- really considers it "home," and never wants to go anywhere else. It is hard for me to compare with previous years, mostly due to insufficient experience there mid-season in previous years. Maybe I'll try to ask when I go there tomorrow, though no guarantee they would tell me. Tomorrow will be my ninth day out using the season ticket -- break even point! Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Link to post Share on other sites
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