Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approach◆自由論題＊研究論文◆

Profiling Taiwanese Leisure
Travelers to Japan Using aMarket Segmentation Approach
マーケット・セグメンテーション技法を用いた
訪日台湾レジャー観光客のプロファイリング分析
Isabell Handler
Doctoral Program, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University
ハンドラ、イザベル
慶應義塾大学大学院政策・メディア研究科後期博士課程

In 2003 a marketing campaign to increase the number of inbound tourists was launched by theJapanese government with the aim to reduce the deficit created by the large number of outboundtourists (16.22 Mio) and the relatively small number of inbound tourists (4.77 Mio). Since then Visit
Japan Campaign (VJC) has been active for several years using a quite unusual approach compared totourism literature such as Pearce [2005], Kotler et al. [2006], Swarbrooke et al. [2007] and Dickman[1999]: Instead of including demographic characteristics, geographic location or the motivation factorsof tourists, of neither leisure tourists or business travelers, in the campaign, a mass marketing strategy
has been designed for achieving the above stated target. As this might constitute a major weaknessof the campaign, this paper tries to give a suggestion for a customized marketing campaign using theexample of Taiwanese leisure tourists, which constitute one of the most important markets for Japan.
The study used questionnaires distributed to tourists from Taiwan who visited Japan for a leisurevacation during August 2007 asking them about VJC and their motivation to travel to Japan. Applying
quantitative methods on the database, market segments were created which can constitute an alternative
to the existing course and invite further research on this topic in the future.
日本政府は 2003 年、訪日外国人観光客を増加させるため、ビジット・ジャパン・キャンペーン
（以下 VJC）を開始した。これは、出国日本人観光客数（1622 万人）と訪日外国人観光客数（477 万人）の不均衡をなくすことを目的としている。
Pearce [2005], Kotler et al. [2006], Swarbrooke et al. [2007]
および、Dickman [1999] と比較すると、VJC はここ数年比較的簡素なアプローチでキャンペーン
を実施してきている。しかし、訪日台湾人を対象とした調査を行った結果、VJC にはその人口特性、地理的立地、ビジネス、レジャーといった渡航目的別の渡航動機などが反映されておらず、マス・
マーケティング戦略にかたよっている事から十分には機能していないことが明らかとなった。本
研究は、このような問題意識に基づき、日本にとって重要な観光市場の一つである台湾のレジャー
観光客に対する有効なマーケティングキャンペーンの提案を試みるものである。本研究は、訪日
台湾人の訪日意識を分析した結果、それを限定すると思われる因子を抽出し、これを用いることで有効ないくつかの類型を見出した。
Keywords: Inbound Tourism, Visit Japan Campaign, Market Segmentation, Leisure Travel

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自由論題

1 Introduction

2 Literature Review

The more a company understands consumers’Marketing research is the tool that can provide

behavior and the motivations behind a purchase, theinformation about customers, but identifying theeasier it will be to predict what products will appeal toneeds of customers can pose a major challenge. In

which group of customers. If there is information on

tourism intensive research has been carried out inthe factors which influence a buyers’ decision, thenorder to create possible market segments which thena company can design an efficient and cost-effective

are targeted with a customized marketing campaign.

marketing campaign to reach its target groups.

One of the most common ways to divide tourists is

Another important point for creating an effective

by demographic factors, i.e. age, gender, education,marketing campaign is to know what information

occupation, expenditure or their geographic location

sources consumers consult to obtain information on[Pearce, 2005; Kotler 2006, Middleton & Clarke,certain products. This rule does not only apply to

2007; Dickman, 1999].

conventional products but to services, like tourism,

The more difficult approach is grouping tourists

as well. Without knowing what a potential tourist is

together based on their travel motivation. Motivation

expecting from a destination or from his trip, it isis much harder to evaluate as there is a large variety

almost impossible to create a product and marketingon human needs and wants, the motives can be

campaign suitable for his/her needs.

internally oriented or externally influenced and theyIn the case of tourism it is essential to learn

can occur in patterns of multiple motives rather thanwhich sights, restaurants, souvenirs or means ofas single dominant force. Another way to assesstransport within a country are appealing or avoided

motivations is through the Travel Career Pattern

the travel motivation of tourists and which sources

Approach, which argues that similar to a career atare used by the tourist in order to learn about awork, tourists are influenced by one’s travel career,potential target country. This information is necessary

which includes the previous travel experiences andfor the promotion and product development aiming at

the life stage of the tourist [Pearce, 2005 and Trauer,different target markets.

2004].

Since the launch of the governmental marketing

Pearce [2005] believes that one of the most

campaign called ‘Visit Japan Campaign’ (VJC) in

useful tourism behavior researches for practitioners

2003, characteristics of travel markets have been

are those trying to understand the process for thelargely ignored and not been included in the design

selection of a product or destination and possibleof the campaign. As a result this papers aim is toinfluences to that choice. He defines six labels

look at the promotional campaign of the Japanese

for characterizing a destination, which can begovernment, VJC, and its approach on trying to

the motivators for tourists: Three of them named

sell Japan as a travel destination in general and in‘physical’: 1) Activities available at the location,

the case of one specific target market Taiwan. The

both public and commercial, 2) settings, which often

strengths and weaknesses of VJC are elaborated andlinked to biophysical aspects such as national parks,

using chi-square test, principal component analysis

world heritage or wilderness areas, and 3) facilities

and cluster analysis, Taiwanese leisure touriststhat focuses on the physical comfort of the visitor

are profiled based on their travel motivation andand engulf surfaces, vegetation, sound, color etc. The

demographic criteria and suggestions are given for anext three characteristics have a more human andcustomization of VJC for this particular market.

social face: 4) Services: In this point the ‘friendliness’54Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approachof a location is defined, more exactly the reliability,or ‘facilities for physical activities’. In addition toassurance, tangibles, empathy and responsivenesssocio-demographic variables, the stimulus ‘affect’of the local service people, 5) hosts, who are those

seems to pay an important role with senior travelers:

people at the destination not involved in the tourism

this variable represents the people’s evaluation ofindustry and 6) the management, which deals withthe events that occur in their lives - in the senior

the marketing and organization of a location. Hsieh

segment: retirement or the death of a spouse andand Chang [2004] use a similar approach whenfriends. These events tend to trigger uncertainty,

studying tourist night markets in Taiwan. The authors

fear or depression in their lives and vacations aretry to analyze the motivation of tourists visiting

often used to offset these emotions. The result of

the night markets and conclude that a visitor’s

this research shows that seniors who were sad,main purpose was eating out, followed by everyday

nervous and hopeless had a higher motivation for

shopping, novelty seeking and entertainment.

traveling, which could be a very interesting aspect for

Additional findings were that female visitors tenda customized marketing campaign.

to come with friends or families rather than alone

The stimulation of local economies in rural areasand single visitors spending more time and moneyof Japan was one of the major reasons for starting

compared to married ones. Other examples of athe inbound tourism initiative. These rural areas

more macro based research in benefit segmentation

have been suffering through structural reforms

would be the study of Jang et al. [2001] and Lee et al.

and spending cuts in recent years. So far there has[2005]: In Jang et al.’s research Japanese pleasure

been no research in Japan on what type of tourists

travelers visiting the US or Canada are clusteredenjoy traveling to the countryside and what typeusing benefit segmentation. He profiles these

prefers city tourism. But it is essential to define thesegments, evaluates them and identifies the optimum

motivation characteristics for each of those groups

segment for organizations and industries, which thensimilar to the research of Molera and Albaladejo

can either, use a mass marketing strategy targeting[2006], who profile segments of tourists in rural areas

large segments or a niche-marketing strategy forof south-eastern Spain through benefit segmentation

profitable segments. Lee does similar with Frenchtechnique. Only then can they be targeted with atravelers to Canada using benefit segmentation andcustomized campaign aiming at the increase of their

the Economic Value Portfolio Matrix to define thenumbers.

most profitable segments to the tourism industry inIn the survey of this paper it was interesting

Canada.

to find that the group of Taiwanese leisure tourists

One possible target group for VJC could becontained a large number of repeat visitors. Further

the increasing number of senior citizens in Taiwan:

analyzing this segment would be recommendable asaccording to Jang and Wu [2004] seniors will emerge

repeat visitors have significant differences in needs

as a significant segment for Taiwanese and otherand motivations for traveling. For instance, according

international destinations. The authors analyzed

to a survey conducted by Li et al. [2007] they like toin their study the underlying factors for seniors’

explore the destination more completely, and utilize

travel motivation, and argue that they behave

a wider variety of information sources than first timequite differently than other age groups: ‘safety andvisitors. Other characteristics of first-timers weresecurity’ as well as ‘hygiene’ is far more importantthat this group consisted mainly of single, younger

to them than ‘shopping facilities’, ‘special events’people who were more likely to travel a long distance

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自由論題

whereas repeaters lived closer to the destination,

Market Segmentation of VJC

often visited friends and families or traveled over the

According to VJC headquarters there is only

weekend.

one marketing campaign targeting incoming tourists

As the needs, purchasing behavior and con-regardless their country of origin. This strategy

sumption patterns of travelers as well as thecan be effective in a market where there are no

geographic location are widely spread it is notcompeting destinations, in the case of Japan however,recommendable for a corporation to attract all

many Asian destinations rank higher in terms thepossible buyers in a market [Lovelock & Wirtz, 2007].

number of incoming tourists: according to the WorldThe basic focus strategies for services mentioned by

Tourism Barometer published by the United Nations

the author are described along two dimensions: theWorld Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Japan ranks

market focus and the service focus. Market focus

30 th in the World’s Top Tourism Destinations in

is characterized by the number of target groups a

2006 with 7.3 Million inbound tourists, facing strong

company is focusing and service focus deals withcompetition from China (4 th - 49.6 Mio), Malaysia

the number of services offered to each market(14 th - 17.5 Mio), Hong Kong (15 th - 15.8 Mio),segment. Combining the two characteristics in a two

Thailand (18th - 13.9 Mio), Macao (21st - 10.7 Mio) anddimensional model the following four types emerge:

Singapore (29th - 10.7 Mio).

1) The fully focused organizations which provide a

VJC appears to divide the market of inboundlimited range of services to few markets or a single

tourists by geographic criteria only: There are 12

one; 2) the service focused, which offer few services

markets for its marketing activities: Korea, China,

to a large market; the 3) market focused, which

USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, UK, France, Germany,

offer a large variety of services to limited markets

Canada, Australia, Singapore and Thailand.

and lastly the 4) unfocused, which try to offer

These markets have been selected based on two

everything to everyone. VJC’s present campaign

characteristics: the number of inbound tourists

appears to have an unfocused strategy, as within the

to Japan and its total population. No promotional

geographic markets no specific targets are selected

activities are carried out in other countries than thoseand the same locations and products are sold to eachmentioned.

of the markets. Lovelock and Wirtz thinks that an

Demographic criteria have been adopted by VJC

unfocused strategy is the least recommendable but

quite sparsely within the geographic markets. In

notes, that public utilities and government agencies

the case of Taiwan VJC headquarters states that the

may be obliged to do so, which might be the case ofmajor focus is on single females in their 20s, however

VJC.

it is not so obvious on what criteria this target group

Finally, it is further recommendable to segment

was selected or how they are specifically targeted by

the market into current, potential and former

the campaign. There are no references to any othervisitors as well as non-visitors to better understanddemographic aspects like occupation, family size,

the difference of each group. After analyzing the

educational background or income.

characteristics, strategies can be developed toEven though benefits have been studied

address potential or non-visitor groups and motivate

through surveys by a governmental organization

them for a leisure vacation in Japan. [Dickman 1999;- Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO),

Lovelock & Wirtz, 2007].

which seems to be the only organization having theresources and network necessary to conduct inbound56

Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approach

tourism research in Japan on a large scale - none of

to use quota random sampling and to effectively

the results have been implemented into VJC. JNTO

characterize inbound travelers, divided in key andpublishes annual reports on inbound tourists, suchminority subgroups. This design could not be put into

as the ‘Customers Satisfaction Survey on Inboundpractice for two reasons: First, permission could not

Tourists Who Visited Japan’, the ‘Destination Survey

be obtained to conduct a survey at Narita or Osakaof Overseas Visitors to Japan’ or the ‘Handbook for

airport neither in the gate area nor in the public

Inbound Tourism’. These reports incorporate surveys

check-in hall due to security concerns. A second

with more than 1000 respondents respectively, but

attempt of securing questionnaires through Japanese

the analysis of all these reports have one prominentand International airline staff at Narita Airport wasfeature: There is little distinction between leisureequally unsuccessful. The second reason was thatand business travelers; consequently the figures -research funding for a project on this scale could noti.e. duration of stay, image of Japan, intention of re-

be made available.

visiting, - always display the total number of inboundAs consequence, a joint project with the Na-

tourists. VJC primarily uses the data of the JNTO

tional Penghu University in Taiwan was started.

publications for their strategies, which might be a

The data used in this study was obtained throughmajor weak point, as the marketing campaign clearlyquestionnaires which were distributed to Taiwanesetargets only leisure travelers.

tourists who visited Japan for leisure vacation during
August 2007. All the travelers participated in different

3 Purposeround trips at different timing purchased at Pin-Chen

To date it appears that there has been no analysis

Tour, a tour operator located in Taipei, Taiwan. As

on the characteristics of inbound leisure travelers

some questions addressed the travel experience,

to Japan. The only available research seems to be

the questionnaires were distributed after the tour

conducted by JNTO. A detailed analysis or reports

to during their flight back to Taiwan, thus havingon segmentation attempts could not be found. As it

already experienced Japan as travel destination. In

is common to use a market segmentation techniquetotal 476 questionnaires were collected and analyzed.

it might result in the misallocation of resources and

The author has to acknowledge that the validity

miss the purpose of the campaign if such methodsof the second approach is much weaker than in theare not utilized. For that reason this paper tries tooriginal study design. Similar surveys with otheranalyze one of the most important target markets oftravel agents/organizations or at a different time in

VJC, Taiwan, and intends to use the results to makethe year might lead to different results. No statementssuggestions for an appropriate marketing mix.

can be given for those segments in the sample which
had a very low number on respondents: i.e. elderly

4 Methodtravelers.

The original intention was to obtain the data

Additionally, it was not possible in the scope ofsimilar to a study the author participated in Austria.

this project to study reasons of Taiwanese leisureDuring that project interviews were conducted withtravelers not visiting Japan and choosing alternative

travelers in the gate area of Vienna International

destinations. Possible reasons can be that the brand

Airport with the support of the Austrian Airlines‘Japan’ is only associated with hot springs, JapaneseGroup and Flughafen Wien AG (Vienna Airport

cuisine, shrines, temples and shopping as statedInc.). This method would have made it possible

as top choices by the respondents in the survey

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自由論題

regardless of gender, occupation, age-group or repeat

find out about the motivation of Taiwanese tourists

visitors. This can be unattractive to many Taiwanese

for choosing Japan for a leisure vacation (multiple

tourists and the creation and variation of travel

choice answers were possible). The most interestingproducts targeting present non-travelers can lead to a

attraction were the hot springs called“Onsen”

significant increase in interest of Japan as destination.

(65.3%) followed by Japanese cuisine (56.7%),

A survey among non-travelers can give additional

shrines, temples (54.4%), shopping (49.4%) andsuggestions on how to improve Japan’s marketing

countryside scenery (27.9%).

mix targeting the Taiwanese market.

Using chi-square test significant differences

The questionnaire was designed according to

between tourist demographic characteristics andthe rules of questionnaire design of Holm [1991]

their travel motivation can be determined. Gender,

and Kirschenhofer-Bozenhardt and Kaplitza [1991]

age and income were associated with travelwith the purpose of collecting information on

motivation. In addition, as the sample consists oftravel specific characteristics (first time to Japan,

a large number of repeat visitors (55.7%), it was

motivation, accommodation, length of stay, cities

included in the analysis. The results can be seen

visited, public transport, how they did like the trip

in Table 1, where only variables with a significanceto Japan and if they consider to revisit), the image

value of p < 0.05 are presented. (see Table 1)of Japan as travel destination, questions related to

Gender, education and repeat visitor were

VJC and its campaign content (Knowledge of VJC,

statistically significant to the travel motivation

media used for Japan related information, destination

whereas age and income was not. With respect toimage, discount passes) and demographic and socio-

gender, differences could be found in male tourists

economic features (occupation, level of education,

being mainly interested in shrines/temples andincome, gender, age).

festivals whereas female tourists in world famousbranded goods. Regarding to level of education, high

5 Results

school graduates were motivated by entertainment

5.1 General Characteristics(film stars, singers, anime, manga) and shopping,

Even though the questionnaires were distributed

university graduates highly interested in shopping,solely to people who purchased a travel product of

hot springs and shrines/temples and post graduates

Pin-Chen Tour, a wide range of age groups could bedominating in brand goods, different culture, theme

addressed. The average age of the sample is 34.37

parks, outdoor sports and entertainment.

years with the youngest 16, the oldest 67; and most

One surprising result was that repeat visitors

people being in their 20ies (33.1%), 30ies (37.6%)

were motivated by significantly more factors thanand 40ies (23.2%). 44.7% of the respondents werefirst time visitors. All relations in the last column

female and 55.3% male. The educational level of theof Table 1 can be attributed by the tourist being a

respondents consisted of 46.2% university graduates,

repeat visitor, and no correlation was found between

25.8% post graduate school, 21.8% senior highmotivation factors and first time visitors.

school, 3.6% university students and 2.5% junior highIn order to define tourist segments principal

school students.

component analysis was applied on the componentscore. Five factors emerge with an eigenvalue greaterthan one (SPSS 14.0) and account for 53.164% of

5.2 Travel Specific Characteristics
One of the main objectives of this study was tothe variance in the sample. The component matrix

58Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approachwith varimax rotation is shown in Table 2 with factor

cultural activities. The fourth includes history andloadings > 0.5. (see Table 2)nature and the fifth Japanese gardens.

The first factor is mainly related to open air

After applying K-means cluster analysis for theactivities like sports and amusement parks in asegmentation, a five cluster solution was considereddifferent cultural environment. The second factor

best as it resulted in the most interpretable segments

is associated with relaxation and the third explains

and well distributed cluster sizes with four clusters

Table 1 Significance level of demographic information and repeat visitor
Gender

Education

0.038

Museums
Castles
Shopping
Outdoor sports
Traditional handicraft
Hot springs [Onsen]
Festival [Matsuri]Sport performances (Karate, Judo, Sumo, Kendo, Aikido..)Camping
Unique history
Shrines and temples
Countryside scenery
Theme parks
Entertainment: film stars, singers, anime, manga
International cosmopolitan city
Japanese cuisine
Different culture
World famous branded goods

Repeat visitor
0.000

0.010
0.000

0.015
0.000

0.001
0.012

0.000
0.004

0.046

0.001

0.000

0.005

0.011
0.000
0.000

0.000
0.005

0.000
0.001
0.004
0.039

0.000
0.007

0.033

Table 2 Rotated component matrix
Component
Museums
Shopping
Outdoor sports
Traditional handicraft
Hot springs [Onsen]
Festival [Matsuri]
Unique history
Shrines and temples
Japanese cuisine
Countryside scenery
Theme parks
International cosmopolitan city
Different culture
World famous branded goods
Japanese garden% variance explained
Accumulated variance

1

2

3

4

5

.135
-.138
.789
-.049
.191
-.156
.041
.088
-.151
.108
.758
.320
.637
.434
.118
15.77
15.77

-.130
.668
-.068
-.124
.677
.261
-.024
.245
.643
.222
.007
.294
-.070
.092
.019
12.37
28.14

.733
.147
.096
.231
.009
.449
.135
.632
.009
-.088
.209
.252
-.109
-.073
-.276
9.50
37.64

-.132
-.313
-.046
.359
.168
.253
.733
.137
.244
.600
.120
-.052
.286
-.177
-.039
7.96
45.60

.000
.105
.016
.673
-.113
.320
.150
-.166
.040
-.052
-.080
.328
.099
.338
.723
7.55
53.16

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自由論題

containing about 23% each and one cluster containing

characterized by their high aversion to activities

8.6% of the respondents . (see Table 3)

related to factor two, which are shopping, cuisineand hot springs. The second cluster is characterized
by a large number of male tourists working as civil

Table 3 Cases in each Cluster
Clusterservants and business men. In addition, this group is

1 - Female venture tourists

102

2 - Male, mid-aged tourists

111

3 - High end tourists

41

4 - Adventurous tourists

111

Respondents in the third cluster (high end

5 - Outdoor, wildlife tourists

111

tourists) have high interest in activities related to476

factor three, four and five, with an emphasis on

Validmostly comprised of tourists being in the age groups
41-50 and 51-60.

nature related activities. Tourists of this group aremostly interested in visiting Japanese gardens but
Table 4 shows the final cluster centers of thealso show a high interest in traveling through theanalysis and each cluster are characterized in the

countryside. In addition they are interested in thefollowing: The first cluster contains visitors whocountry’s culture with its museums as well as shrines

are mainly interested in variables correlated to theand temples. Members of cluster three are to an

second factor, describing a tourist whose purpose

almost equal number female and male and range

for traveling to Japan is relaxation by visiting hotfrom the age 41 to 60. The two biggest occupation

springs, enjoying Japanese cuisine and shoppinggroups in this cluster are business people, with awhile avoiding activities related to factor three, whichlarge number of repeat visitors.

are visits to Museums, Shrines and Temples. Thus,

In the fourth segment tourists primarily enjoy

the members are named female venture tourists. This

activities offered in bigger cities, like shopping andgroup mainly consists of females, with young females

eating out, which are related to factor two. Also they

aged 21-30 interested in shopping and older females

like to visit museums, shrines and temples with aaged 41-50 in hot springs and Japanese cuisine. Most

visit to a hot spring (Factor 3). Therefore they areof the people in this group are employed, with anlabeled adventurous tourists. Tourists in this group

income under US $ 25.000 per year. An additional

are mostly young (21-30) and the number of female

characteristic is that they are mostly first timeand male tourists is relatively balanced. In addition

visitors.

this cluster contains a large number of blue collar

Tourists in the second cluster (male mid-aged

workers with lower income (less than US $25.000

tourists) do not have any specific interests but are

per year).

Table 4 Final Cluster Centers
Cluster

F1: Open air activities
F2: Relaxation
F3: Cultural activities
F4: History/Nature
F5: JP Gardens

Female venture
touristsMale,
mid-aged tourists

High end
tourists

Adventurous
tourists

Outdoor,wildlife tourists-.13882.62703-.95528-.48487.46409-.29715-1.25464-.13759-.32573-.01024.02212-.00060.93122
1.33906
1.95571-.36235.60805.95120-.47491-.38895.77890.07063-.27975.75159-.74965

60

Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approach

The last segment is formed by tourists (outdoor,

which would confirm the findings of Li et al. [2007]

wildlife tourists) who have a strong interest inthat repeat visitors consult multiple information

variables related to factor one and four but nosources and consequently have a higher chance ofinterest in factor five. They seek benefits throughknowing VJC. It is notable that the majority of bothactively exploring various locations like theme

first time and repeat visitors did not know about theparks, countryside scenery and participating incampaign, and it might recommendable to reassess

outdoor sports while shunning Japanese gardens

the marketing mix used by VJC headquarters.

and traditional handicraft. This segment has mostly

To continue with the analysis, the previous

middle aged male tourists (41-50) but also a large

clusters were put into relation with the knowledge

number of young male tourists (21-30) who areof VJC (Table 5). The result was highly significant

business workers or white collar workers. It is further(p=0.000) with the following characteristics: The

composed of many repeat visitors.

majority of the tourists with travel motivations
contained in cluster one, two, three and five did notknow about VJC, contrary to those in cluster four.

5.3 VJC Specific Questions
One of the main points of this research is giving

As stated before, members of cluster four engage insuggestions for a possible improvement of VJC

activities like shopping, eating out, visiting shrines,

marketing campaign. Even though the JNTO reporttemples and hot springs. These motivation factors[2007b] states that VJC is one of the reasons for theare those advertised by VJC and therefore it is notincrease of Taiwanese tourists it could not explain

surprising that this group knows about the campaign

the connection between VJC and the increase in

more than tourists of other clusters.(see Table 5)

the number of travelers, therefore it was decided toinclude questions regarding VJC in the questionnaire.

Table 5 Relation between clusters and knowledge of VJC

First, the respondents were asked whether they

Knowledge of VJC

knew the campaign, with the result of this question
Cluster

only 28.8% (137 respondents) did know the marketing
campaign and 71.2% (339 respondents) did not.
The large number of people not knowing of
the campaign was particularly interesting as the

1 - Female venture tourists
2 - Male, mid-aged tourists
3 - High end tourists
4 - Adventurous tourists
5 - Outdoor, wildlife tourists

Yes

No

26.5%
15.3%
39.0%
54.1%
15.3%

73.5%
84.7%
61.0%
45.9%
84.7%

sample consisted of a 55.7% repeat visitors, who

6 Conclusion

did not encounter any signs of the campaign or VJC
brochures before or during any of their trips, or could

Current marketing strategies adopted by VJC

not remember it. This however cannot be explained

Office need to become more efficient to be able

by Taiwanese tourists not searching for any travel

to compete with surrounding destinations. Target

related information on Japan: only 2.9% stated so.

countries have been unchanged since 1980 [MLIT,

To determine whether it played any role on1980] and should be reviewed, as well as the entry

being a first time visitor or a repeat visitor andinto new countries considered.

their awareness of VJC, chi-square was applied to

The selection of target groups within countries2

the data. The result was significant with X =27.493,

should be based on marketing research with a clear

p=0.00. From the first time visitors 83.4% and out

division of the market into leisure and businessof the repeat visitors 61.5% did not know of VJC,

travelers. To focus only on ‘working, female tourists

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自由論題

in their 20ies’ in Taiwan is inadvisable as there

Addressing specific segments and creating

several other appealing segments are available.

more variety in travel products targeting them

Based on the analysis in this paper, there arewill not only increase satisfaction but also shifting

several suggestions for the target market in Taiwan:

Taiwanese from potential visitors and non-visitors

There are differences in travel motivation between

groups to actual visitors to Japan. An interesting

male and female tourists and different age groups.

point is why Taiwanese tourists decided not toDifferent marketing approaches and travel products

visit Japan and can present an interesting researchshould be considered for each of those segments,

topic in the future. As VJC is the only international

replacing the present marketing approach of sellingmarketing campaign attracting foreign tourists andall Japan has to offer to everyone in Taiwan.

Japan spotting no regional tourism organization or a

An example is the travel motivation ‘shopping’:

network of tourism key players who could cooperate

While young females are interested in shopping inand launch a marketing campaign on their own, it will

Japan, females and males over 41 are clearly not. As

the VJC’s role to address these issues. It is further

consequence VJC should analyze what media is mostimperative that research conducted by JNTO andpopular among young females and shift from generalused by VJC Office to be improved and its results toadvertising in daily newspapers to advertising in i.e.

be implemented into the campaign.

fashion magazines. Another distinguishing point

As sustainable inbound tourism and accepting ais that more first time visitors were interested inlarge number of foreigners are quite new concepts to

shopping than repeat visitors. In the media analysis ofJapan and its people; it will not be surprising if inboundthis thesis it was discovered that the most important

tourism policies are only slowly going to change tomedia used for the travel decision of first time visitorsa more market driven approach in the future. There

are brochures available at local travel agents, a media

is still strong resistance and fear towards foreigners

not used by VJC at all.

[Cooper et al. 2007, Imanishi, 2007; Shiotani andHot springs are often used in VJC’s advertising

Chujo, 2005] but once Japanese people accustom

and this study discovered that females in their 40s

themselves to the presence of foreigners, and embrace

are interested in hot springs while male tourists are

the idea and benefits of inbound tourism, a morenot. Again, first time visitors were more interested,market driven approach can be adopted.

hence advertisements in travel brochures might beAcknowledgements

recommendable in this example as well.
Male tourists on the other hand showed high

The author would like to sincerely thank Prof.

interest in outdoor sports and theme parks, especially

Tzung-Cheng Huan, Professor and Dean of thethose who were repeat visitors. This travel motivation

College of Tourism and Leisure, National Penghu

was also characterized by young male tourists being

University in Taiwan and Ping-Chang Lin, operator

attracted while young females were not. Male tourists

Pin-Chen Tours, for his generous support in this study.

from Taiwan in the sample were often influenced by
TV commercials which might be an advisable media

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62

Profiling Taiwanese Leisure Travelers to Japan Using a Market Segmentation Approach〔Received 6. 27. 2008〕〔Accepted 4. 15. 2009〕

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