2021 Volume 76 Issue 5 Pages I_823-I_836
In order to promote the use of rental cars by inbound tourists, it is important to understand the rental car usage trends of each country and region. The objective of this study is to identify characteristics of inbound tourists using rental cars by individual attributes and illustrate differences in destinations based on these characteristics. The study uses individual data from the “Consumption Trend Survey for Foreigners Visiting Japan” by the Japan Tourism Agency, and categorizes countries and regions based on destination choices applying cluster analysis. In addition, the study uses ETC data of unlimited expressway pass users in the Chubu region to categorize destination patterns by country and region applying latent class analysis. The cluster analysis revealed that there are some countries such as Malaysia in which the destination areas have changed over the years. Using the latent class model, 14 total patterns were identified, and 7 patterns included areas outside of Shoryudo, the main tourism area in Chubu region. In addition, there are countries such as the U.S. with a high rate of visiting various regions in Japan. This study shows the importance of policy development that does not depend only on countries and regions with large numbers of tourists such as China and Korea because destination trends differ by country and region.
