Foreign visitors spent average ¥107,302 while in Okinawa

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A survey by Okinawa Prefecture Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports published on May 31st, indicates that foreign visitors spend an average ¥107,302 per person during their stay in the prefecture during fiscal 2015. The total shows a 1.2 percent or ¥1,251 increase over the previous year.

By nationality, Chinese are the biggest spenders with an average ¥149,820 per person, followed by residents of Hong Kong at ¥143,632 and Taiwanese at ¥91,151. Statistics from previous years show that spending by the Chinese has been increasing since fiscal 2012, but figures from the fiscal 2015 indicate they have slightly tightened their purses from ¥155,191 per person in 2014.

According to the department analysis, the change can be attributed to changing preferences of visitors from just shopping to various leisure and recreation activities.

The department also broke down the details of the spending. Chinese visitors spent most of their money to buy souvenirs, for which they used ¥61,866 yen. Lodging expenses counted for ¥40,514, and food consumption ¥25,263.

Visitors from Hong Kong were almost the opposite, as they spent ¥38,593 for lodging, ate meals worth ¥36,644, but spent only ¥36,343 for souvenirs.

As for souvenirs, most popular were confectionery, drugs and medicines, and foods and beverages. The list has not changed over the years. The most popular location for shopping is Kokusai Street in Naha.

On the other hand, a similar survey of domestic visitors shows and average domestic visitor spent ¥74,080 in fiscal 2015. The figure does not include school trip students. The spending rose ¥1,467 or 2 percent from the year before.

Domestic visitors’ spending increased 9% for leisure and recreation activities, 4.6% for souvenirs and 4.1% for lodging, but they spent 4.8% less for local transportation.

The decrease in transportation expenses can be attributed mostly to the increased number of direct flights to Okinawa’s outlying islands.

Most visitors also left the island happy with 56.5% saying that they were highly satisfied with their experience.