Senior Citizens and Relocation

Increasingly, senior citizens are relocating. "Really?" I hear you saying, but Japanese seniors are really active and they travel quite extensively. There are those that just do the regular 5 night 6 day travel package, but what is an increasingly growing market is Japanese going overseas to "live" or at least to "stay in one location" for 2 weeks or more.

In Japan this kind of travel is known as "Long Stay". ie. Not the short stay of a regular travel package, but a "longer stay". Recently, I have actually heard this referred to as "Medium Stay" or "Mid Stay", as a good part of the market are not really "living" overseas for any extraodinary period, but simply for 2-6 weeks.

Our organization, not wishing to miss the boat has set up www.LongStayer.com and "Club H&R", as we are interested in the senior citizen market and how we can assist retirees and their famalies with their wish to spend some extended time overseas. Our initial services concentrate on fun language classes, and providing Japanese senior citizens with a variety of opportunities to interact with foreigners in Japan. We feel that many senior citizens needs some preparation / help with achieving their wish to "Long Stay" to other countries, and we also feel they need a space to share their experiences when they return. Watch our space!!

I read with interest an article in the Nikkei Newspaper last week that shared the following data on Japanese travellers in 2010;
- Of male travellers of all ages leaving Japan, the number of travellers in 2010 dropped by 10% compared to 2009.
- Of female travellers of all ages leaving Japan, the number of travellers in 2010 increased by 5% compared to 2009.
- Of men in their early 60s travelling overseas, the numbers grew by 3% compared to 2009
- Of women in their early 60s travelling overseas, the numbers grew by 15% compared to 2009

This just shows that senior citizen travel is outgrowing the average amount of travel of the rest of the population.

The same Nikkei article refers to 3 ways that senior citizens spend their days;

"W Days"- Are days that seniors spend their time around home. "W" stands for "walking"; quite often a stroll with their partners or their dogs.

"T Days"- Are days that seniors have "tea" with their friends and chat. There is good business here for coffee shops and cafes.

"C Days"- Are the days seniors venture the most. "C" stands for "culture". These are the days when seniors attend their favorite activities, go to movies, learn a language, teach a skill from their child hood, etc.

What is important here is that on these 3 types of days, the senior citizens are not about "buying stuff", but instead they are about purchasing experiences and enjoying the passing of time. This is something to keep in mind if you are interested in this market!!!

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!

The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

www.morethanrelo.com

Is Tokyo Real Estate Back? Is Japan Relocation On The Way Back?

Condominiums put up for sale in the capital and surrounding region grew 22% in 2010, indicating that the real estate industry might be on the way out of a 6 year stint of falling prices.

You can read further here;
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/01/19/tokyo-real-estate-back-and-bubbling/

In the rental housing market in Tokyo, while things are better, it is still possible to obtain 10- 20% discounts on listed prices. There is still an abundance of availability, but we are seeing things moving much faster in 2011 than tha later months of October, November and December 2010.

There is a vibe coming into this year that wasn't there in 2010. Things are generally moving in a faster pace in 2011 from what I feel.

In our relocation sphere, there is still a net flow out of Japan, but I feel the net number is decreasing in Tokyo. Hopefully, by the end of 2011 we will see the net flow change into Japan, which should see a firming up of rental housing prices in Tokyo.

For Nagoya and Osaka, the cycle is still 6-12 months behind Tokyo, so a positive improvement in Tokyo in 2011 will no doubt see a chain reaction in the other main centers in 2012.

There is still a long way to go, but I like the feel of 2011!!

Housing and Relocation with I-Pads

Our housing and relocation organization, H&R Group, is pleased to announce the launch of I-Pad development that will enable us to conduct Home Finding, Settling In and Orientation Services using the hand held tablet.

For “Home Finding Services”, the I-Pad allows us to show the housing tour “on-line”, including external and internal pictures, floor plans, property details, comparison charts of the properties in the tour and of course maps that show the location. All at the touch of a button!!

For other relocation related services, the I-Pad allows us to have immediate access to a wide range of information on the web. Resources such as train timetables and travel times, cross cultural applications on Japan, conversion tools for currency and measurement, and everything else the World Wide Web has to offer. The I-Pad allows us to offer so much more out of the office.

In addition, our offices are currently digitalizing all the information we have internally, and we are placing this in a secure, log-in protected area of www.ReloJapan.com. This will not only enable our clients to access our internally prepared relocation materials at any time, but it also enables us to immediately be able to show our clients this information on the I-Pad when we are out of the office. The I-Pad allows us to immediately refer to all the information we have, even if we are in the car, viewing a property or conducting an orientation of a local area.

Finally, in conjunction with these developments, we would also like to announce the launch of our e-book “Japan Living”. With more than 400 pages on every aspect of Japan, you can view this on your PC or I-Pad here; www.paradigm.co.jp/morethanrelo/

The “H&R Group” is MORE than Relocation!

www.MoreThanRelo.com