📊 Shifting Corporate Perspectives: From “Tourists” to “Residents”
Companies are beginning to emerge that interpret the increase in foreign residents not merely as a phenomenon, but as a sign of a new market. At financial institutions and real estate companies in urban centers like Tokyo and Osaka, a transition is underway—moving beyond traditional tourism-oriented sales to services tailored for those who “live” here. There is a movement to expand customer support in English and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) and to set up “Permanent/Long-term Residency Support Desks” for the wealthy from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. For instance, at some major city banks, mortgage applications by foreign nationals increased by 35% year-on-year (as of 2023). Alongside economic trends, the corporate posture is definitely changing.🛍️ Transformation of the Luxury Market Luxury brand shops and urban hotels are also gradually reconsidering their “tourist location + short-term stay” models. What they are focusing on are “customers who become part of daily life, rather than one-time guests”—in other words, the semi-resident demographic. They stay in Japan multiple times, using the same brands and the same restaurants. It is said that the average spending per customer in this repeater segment reaches about 1.8 times that of short-term tourists (JTB Survey 2022). In fact, an increasing number of luxury condominiums and hotels in the city center are introducing serviced apartment-style long-term stay plans. Furthermore, wine seminars and art events targeting the wealthy are resuming, setting in motion a hybrid marketing approach of “Experience + Settlement” 🍷.
📱 The Wave of Multilingualism Hitting the Digital Frontlines 🌐 Looking at the operation screens of social media ads, a shift in trends is visible here too. In Facebook and Instagram ad delivery, the ratio of ads placed in Chinese (Traditional) and English has expanded to about 1.6 times compared to 2022. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (DX Promotion White Paper 2023), a record number of companies now have English, Chinese, and Korean pages on their official websites. Consequently, interest in “ad copy targeting foreign residents” and “multicultural co-existence UX design” is growing. On cutting-edge real estate platforms, a new search category for “Long stay / Semi-resident” has even appeared. This can be seen as a manifestation of the market shifting from “travel” to “living.”
📈 What is the Impact on Local Economies and Japanese Consumers? If long-term stay consumption takes root, the very structure of local commercial zones will change. For example, in popular metropolitan areas like Tokyo, Sapporo, and Fukuoka, rising housing demand from wealthy foreigners is driving up land prices (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, City Bureau Survey 2023). Simultaneously, data shows a 30% increase in regional city stores adopting multilingual menus and cashless payments to accommodate the growing number of foreign residents. From an era where inbound tourism was a “wave,” we are moving to an era where it settles as a “layer.” The impact this will have on domestic industries is only just beginning. How will Japan change as a “country to live in”? And how will companies perceive this change and what value will they provide? Marketing is currently standing at the entrance of a new social model. (To be continued)
* Reference Article: JNTO “Japan Tourism Statistics”
* From the Marketing Seed series. Please also read this article → Because It’s the Age of AI—Let’s Talk Human Touch (2) ~ Seeds of Marketing #59