Advanced flight bookings to Japan suggest rugby fans from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Ireland will be on the ground in force to support their teams during this year’s Rugby World Cup according to research by Travelport, a leading technology company serving the global travel industry. Australia is ranked the sixth.
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Rugby World Cup 2019 Countries participating in the tournament Flight Booking Growth to Japan (Wednesday 18 September to Monday 4 November vs previous year) |
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| Rank | Origin | Vol. increase | % Change |
| 1 | United Kingdom |
+7,488 |
+19% |
| 2 | New Zealand |
+5,871 |
+70% |
| 3 | Ireland |
+4,016 |
+291% |
| 4 | South Africa |
+3,770 |
+234% |
| 5 | Argentina |
+2,853 |
+139% |
| 6 | Australia |
+1,432 |
+3% |
| 7 | Georgia |
+235 |
+222% |
| 8 | Namibia |
+93 |
+291% |
| 9 | Western Samoa |
+25 |
+313% |
| 10 | Tonga |
+9 |
+113% |
| This data is derived from Travelport’s interpretation of relevant MIDT data. It reflects bookings made through GDS only. Additional bookings will also have been made directly through airlines’ websites. | |||
With three teams from the United Kingdom (UK), England, Scotland and Wales, taking part in the Rugby World Cup it’s no surprise to see the greatest increase in flight bookings to Japan during the tournament coming from the nation.
With New Zealand looking to add a third win to their back-to-back victories in 2015 and 2011 respectively, the All Blacks will see good support from the stands with the number of tourists heading to Japan up 70 per cent year-on-year. With the average traveller booking 134 days in advance, New Zealand fans were also the most forward-thinking travel planners, keen to secure their ticket early.
Commenting on the data, Jason Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer – Travel Partners, said; “We know big sporting events often encourage people to travel and there is nothing like being in the stadium watching your team compete on the world stage. It’s great to see the UK’s teams will be well supported and that regular favorites like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will also have fans filling the stadiums for their games.”
As part of its study, Travelport analysed booking data from all global distribution systems (GDS) to Japan, as of Thursday 12 September 2019 arriving from Wednesday 18 September 2019 to Monday 4 November 2019. The company then ran comparable data for the same period last year to identify trends.
GDS are vast hi-tech reservation networks that allow travel agents, travel management companies and large corporations, among others, to search and book airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items. Additional bookings will have been made directly with airlines, which may or may not also have a GDS presence. Globally in 2018, Travelport alone processed 1 trillion transactions through its GDS.
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