Japan tour offers ‘industry-first’ cherry blossom guarantee
MANILA, Philippines — Apart from Mt. Fuji as a favorite backdrop, many Japan travelers aim to capture a selfie with cherry blossoms in full bloom.
It is for this reason that many travelers, including Filipinos, book their Japan trip in spring.
But there are instances that travelers end their Japan trip with no sight of the pinkish beautiful blooms.
A study by travel app Klook found that two in three travelers reported to be disappointed at the end of their Japan trip after failing to witness the cherry blossoms or sakura in full bloom.
In a Time article in March 2024, it reported that the sakura started blooming much earlier than their usual blooming dates. It cited that cherry trees in Tokyo started blooming on March 29 between 1961 to 1990.
Japan Meteorological Agency climate risk management officer Daisuke Sasano said that this date has moved much earlier to March 24, between 1991 and 2020.
Tokyo’s sakuras were the first to bloom in 2023 on March 14, which was seen as unusual since it was believed that the blooms typically occur first in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago toward the northern part as part of the “cherry blossom front.”
Sasano said in the Time interview that this particular incident is due to global warming, compounded with urbanization.
Guaranteed cherry blossoms
Taking into consideration this phenomenon, the travel app introduced an offer for Japan cherry blossom chasers with its “No Bloom, No Gloom” campaign.
Touting the offer as an “industry-first,” the campaign offers travelers the chance to see the sakuras in bloom. They can book a tour in one of the app’s seasonal Japan tours found in the page of the “No Bloom No Gloom” page. It stipulates that for those who have booked the offer in the dedicated page and failed to see cherry blossoms, they will receive a promo code of up to 50% off their next tour booking with a one year validity period (applicable to all Klook tours, capped at USD$25).
On the campaign’s page, interested travelers can check out the cherry blossoms forecast for 2025. It features a map of Japan with locations and key dates for the cherry blossoms’ flowering season and peaks, from the southern Kagoshima to the northern Sapporo, all between March 25 to April 28.
Other locations
Klook said that Japan remains the top pick for cherry blossom sighting, with 82% of Filipino travelers and 78% of travelers from across the world wanting to visit the "Land of the Rising Sun" for it.
But sakuras are not exclusive to Japan. There are other places where the cherry blossoms also bloom. These include South Korea, Taiwan and China.
The app noted that with the influence of social media, a good number of travelers, at 68%, considered catching the cherry blossoms bloom in other countries other than Japan.
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