An estimated 548,000 people are expected to go abroad during the coming Golden Week holiday season, down 0.4 percent from the previous year, because this year's string of public holidays is not conducive to taking a long trip, JTB Corp. said Thursday.

This year's Golden Week includes two workdays, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The number of travelers to Asian destinations is likely to increase 4.4 percent to 308,000 between April 25 and May 5, as the distribution of holidays will hardly affect the three- to four-day tours that are popular for the shorter distances, Japan's biggest travel agency said.

But JTB forecasts a 7.4 percent fall in the number of tourists bound for North America to 126,000.

In addition, the number of travelers to Europe will likely decrease 2.4 percent to 80,000 and those to Oceania will drop 8.9 percent, to 25,500, JTB said.