Expedia, the world's largest online travel agency, conducted an international comparative survey of paid vacation days in 25 countries. Japan has broken away from its seven-year streak of ranking last in both the number of paid vacation days used and the utilization rate.

The Japanese government has set a new growth strategy of increasing the utilization rate to 70% by 2020. This survey found that the average number of days used in Japan in 2014 was 10, three days more than the previous year, but still below the global average of 20 days.

Furthermore, the most common use of paid vacation days among Japanese people was "multiple short trips throughout the year," at 56%. Meanwhile, only 11% responded that they "take all paid vacation days together and go on one long trip." This shows a trend toward short, nearby trips over long, distant trips. Based on these results, Expedia has prepared a number of travel plans tailored to Japanese vacation time usage patterns, catering to those who "want to go far away" and "stay in a nice hotel" even if they "don't have time" or "don't have money."

For example, overseas travel plans that use one day of vacation time plus a weekend from January 23rd to 25th, 2015, include a two-day stay on Emirates Airlines to Dubai for 74,167 yen; a two-and-a-half-day stay on an LCC departing from Haneda at night to Kuala Lumpur for 39,106 yen; and a two-day stay on ANA to Hanoi for 59,797 yen. Popular nearby Asian destinations and the up-and-coming Dubai are both within reach for just 100,000 yen (all based on two-night stays in three-star hotels).

Expedia has released the "Expedia Travel Booking" app, which allows users to instantly book over 325,000 hotels in approximately 30,000 cities and flights with approximately 400 airlines in just four steps. We offer a variety of services to help you enjoy your trip smartly, including a lowest hotel price guarantee.