|
Changing consumer market in Japan
The import volume of luxury foods and wine is steadily increasing in Japan. There is an obvious upward trend of Japanese consumers being attracted to better quality, healthier and safer products as consumer tastes get more sophisticated with rising influence. Recent data from The Economist indicates that the GDP in the first quarter of 2007 was 2.6% above that of 2006.
Recent positive advances of foreign affiliated starred-class hotels into the mega cities like Tokyo have a huge impact in the hospitality industry. These hotels will include fine dining restaurants and bars which generate immense business opportunities for importing gourmet food and domestic-grown high quality food. In addition, thanks to the Japanese government initiative to launch the “Visit Japan Campaign,” the number of foreign visitors to Japan has been continuously increasing by 12% or more every year. These positive tourism arrivals in Japan are also expected to spur further growth in the hotel and foodservice industry.
|