NISEKO NEWS
By Thomas Shomaker
Main Photo: Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
Niseko, known worldwide as a winter resort, has been expanding its summer offerings as it transitions to an all-season destination.
The Niseko area enjoyed years of steady growth before the outbreak of COVID, reaching over 4 million annual year-round visitors for the combined Niseko, Kutchan and Rankoshi region from 2015 through 2019.
To accommodate this wider demand and increased investment, fair-weather offerings expanded rapidly in tandem with visitorship from around 2015 on.
Surprising Summer Visitorship
Although only had domestic visitors could travel to the Niseko area from March 2020 till October of 2022, the average length of stay was much longer during this time period – 4.3 nights for the 2020-21 season compared to the running 15-year average of 1.5 nights.
And the 2020-21 season was the first year more guests came in the summer, according to Niseko Tourism.
In light of surprisingly strong COVID-era summer visitorship and Japan’s reopening, the area is preparing for a very busy 2023 summer season and continuing to expand as a summer destination.
Acme Wu, Chief Marketing Manager at Niseko Tourism, said that the increased visitorship and resultant investment over the summers ahead of 2020 has created its own momentum.
“International investors have more and more reason to visit as they may have a house here,” she said.
In terms of this coming summer, Ms Wu described having recently attended a travel expo in Taiwan, after which she was flooded with inquiries about Niseko summer activities.
”In the past, the inquiries were much closer to the summer. Now, visitors are planning ahead to have us on their summer itinerary.
Acme WuNiseko Tourism Chief Marketing Manager
Photo: Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
Real Estate Goes Warm Weather
Real Estate companies have also begun marketing properties in summer-specific ways, perhaps most notably with Niseko Real Estate’s new onsen villa development, Niseko Golf Estates.
In partnership with property manager Niseko Wow, Niseko Golf Estates is located just outside Hirafu Village and, nestled next to to Niseko Village Golf Course, offers “golf-in, golf-out access”, a summer twist on the common “ski-in, ski-out” phrasing.
Golf, as well as cycling, hiking and rafting on the Shiribetsu river – considered one of the cleanest in Japan as it filters through the nearby mountains – have long been popular in Niseko.
All Seasons, All Ages
Recent years have seen a rise in family-friendly offerings, including three ‘tree trekking’ adventure parks, one of the newest and largest being NAC Adventure Park which opened in 2017 and spreads across 9,265sqm of Hirafu forest.
Eri Shibuya, Marketing Senior Officer at Niseko Hanazono Resort, said that while the resort has for a long time provided activities like cycling tours and hiking, often working with third-party outdoor companies, in recent years it has increased its in-resort year-round offerings.
”Last year we opened Japan’s longest zipline and also at night, Mountain Lights.
Eri ShibuyaNiseko Hanazono Resort Marketing Senior Officer
Hanazono Zipflight | Photo: Niseko Hanazono
Kids Tree Trekking | Photo: NAC Niseko Adventure Centre
Mountain Lights | Photo: Niseko Hanazono Resort
The former, Hanazono Zipflight, opened in July 2022 and features three ziplines suspended above the Hanazono slopes, the longest stretching 1,700m down the mountainside, on which riders can reach speeds exceeding 110kph.
The latter, Mountain Lights, is an art installation by the British artist Bruce Munro that also debuted in the summer of 2022.
Also massive in scale, it features 180,000 points of light stretching for 1,300m at the foot of Mount Annupuri in Niseko Hanazono, and will be back this summer.
Summer Gateway to Hokkaido
Summer visitors, not hemmed in by snow, also have a great opportunity to use Niseko as a homebase for day trips around southwest Hokkaido, especially in light of the coming Shinkansen at Kutchan Station and the completion of the Shiribeshi Expressway between Yoichi and Kutchan.
“Nowhere else in the region has the variety of international guest service we have, even in the summer,” said Ms. Wu.
“The biggest offer is the accommodations.”
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