Rushing Into G-TOUR II?

Above, the first G-TOUR in 2004 at the Koriyama Museum.

J. D. Lees has announced on the G-FAN website that G-TOUR II is planned for 2011:

G-TOUR II is currently in the planning stages, following up on the highly successful first G-TOUR in 2004. The new tour is to take place in the summer of 2011 with a substantially different itinerary compared to the first one. Some highlights include: a Tokyo tour featuring the Godzilla statue in Hibiya, a visit to the Bandai Museum in Mibu, stops at Nagoya and Osaka Castles, and a fireworks display over Lake Biwa. Additional details can be found in the latest issue of G-FAN Magazine. As they develop, further details and information will be posted here, and in upcoming issues of G-FAN.

J.D. has always desired to have a G-TOUR II. The first one was 11 days of fun and it went off without a hitch, and it had excellent word-of-mouth. So a G-TOUR II is a natural.

However, it should be pointed out that we took nearly three years to plan the first one. This one has been announced for Summer, 2011, only one year away. Keep in mind that the world economy was in far better shape in 2004 than now. We don't know what the economic conditions will be a year from now. Keep in mind, the economy isn't getting better and people are still hurting for jobs. Plus, the Bush tax cuts are due to expire in January (which amounts to a big tax hike in a recession), so there will be less disposable income for people to spend on a tour.

The subject of G-TOUR II came up on the Monster Zero forum. I responded this way, in part:

The economic conditions could be improved by then. Then again, they could be worse. Nobody knows.

If memory serves, I think the rate of exchange when we had G-TOUR in 2004 was 113 yen/dollar. Right now, it is 86.2537/dollar, which is a p*ss poor rate of exchange.

Also, the last tour was around $3,200/person. Prices may be higher. Allowing one year from announcement to the tour itself isn't giving people enough time to save.

We took around 3 years in planning the last one, and JD is allowing one year of planning for the next one? I really don't think that's wise. He may have already decided on a travel agency (SITA did the last one) and it could be SITA again. Although they did an excellent job, it would be prudent to open the tour for bids for a better deal and there's the possibility that the SITA staff changed over the past six years. We took bids the last time and compared them on charts (JD did one on his end, and I did one on my end).

It'll be interesting to see how this works out. But it would not be wise to rush into it.

Although J.D. has more experience in planning a tour than he did in 2004, one year out is really not enough time. He should allow at least two years to plan it and to allow potential tourists to save up for it. If he hasn't done so already, he should open it up to open bidding amongst tour companies. If he already decided on SITA, the current SITA may not be the same SITA of 2004 and they may not be the top-notch people as before.

Granted, I am no longer involved with G-FAN or G-FEST and J.D. and I haven't spoken since December. But if I were still involved, I would still tell J.D. the same thing (and I'd still help him with it).

Would I recommend going on G-TOUR II? I can't make a recommendation (one way or another) until I see more details on the planning, costs, etc.

UPDATE (8/14/10): Jay Grymyr posted at the Monster Zero forum that the tour package to be offered does not include airfare (as it was the last time), tourists will have to book their own flights to Narita.

You have to consider this. Suppose the tour package will cost $2,700/person (I haven't seen the actual cost). Although the tour package is cheaper than in 2004, airfare is not included.

The time you're going will be peak travel season (despite the un-Godly heat and humidity of Japan). Airfares for that time are generally $800-1,000 for a round-trip ticket to Narita (they go down to $500 during the non-peak time).

If you're lucky, you get a flight ticket for $800. Add that to the $2,700 for the tour package and you end up having to save (and pay) $3,500.

Then there's the deposit one will have to pay a few months before departure and the balance due a few weeks before departure.

I really have to wonder if all these factors were thought through.

Jay did mention that the required minimum number is 30 people. 30 will still be difficult to attain (in this economy), but not impossible. If J.D. manages to pull this off, God bless him!