Expedia celebrates its 20th anniversary of their entry into the Japanese market in 2026 since they opened ‘Expedia..co.jp' in November 2006. For the two decades, the giant OTA has grown in the outbound travel from Japan, the domestic travel in Japan and the inbound travel to Japan. Travel Voice interviewed Tracey Weber, senior vice president and general manager of the Expedia brand, to know how Expedia sees the current Japanese market and the future travel trends.
Growing the inbound travel market and recovering the outbound travel market
Reflecting the 20 years’ history in Japan, Weber first talked about the growing inbound travel market. Referring to the data that 50% of visitors from the U.S. used Expedia in 2024, she said that Expedia’s commitment to the Japan’s tourism industry is growing stronger,
She also mentioned the recent travel trends. As Okinawa was ranked 2nd in the search growth rate based on the Expedia’s trend forecast ‘Unpack ’26,’ She said that the secondary cities in Japan draw attentions from U.S. travelers, and there are a lot of opportunities to continue promoting those cities for repeat visits and for longer visits.
To meet such a travel demand, Expedia provides a discounted rate when a traveler add the second hotel or the third hotel, which is expected to motivate a inbound traveler to visit local areas in Japan.
On the other hand, regarding overseas travel by Japanese people, which is still in the process of recovery, she expressed an optimistic view for the future, stating that although there are economic conditions such as the weak yen and high prices, “All of the travel market have the power to recover. This is because the desire to travel will never stop.”
She also introduced ‘Flight Deals,’ which was released in Japan in February 2026, as a new function to give Japanese travelers inspirations to the next travel destination.
Also, Expedia offered a campaign for Hawaii, together with Hawaii Tourism Japan and Visa, to provide a discount when you pay for eligible hotels in Hawaii or eligible "flight + accommodation" packages with Visa. Through this campaign, Expedia aimed to support Japanese travelers facing the challenge of low accommodation costs in Hawaii, and to attract higher-quality travelers to Hawaii as part of its brand. Given that Hawaii is a benchmark market for Japanese overseas travel, Expedia plans to continue its partnership with Hawaii in the future.
Tracey Weber, senior vice president and general manager of the Expedia brand
What are travel trends in 2026?
As the recent travel trends, Weber pointed out that there is a growing demand for places that are not as well-known as they used to be. According to the Unpack '26 survey, Big Sky, Montana, had the highest increase in searches. Weber expressed surprise, saying, "I never imagined it would be getting this much attention.”
In addition, she picked ‘Sports Tourism’ as a notable trend. For Japanese people, Los Angeles is one of the hottest destinations because of Japanese superstar baseball player, Shohei Otani, who plays for Dodgers. The Unpack '26 survey finds that 51% of Japanese travelers answered that they want to see sports games that they cannot see in their living areas.
Expedia sees ‘Live Tourism’ as a promising market as well, referring that K-POP concerts attract tourists from the world.
“it is fundamentally changing how everyone is approaching things in their life, whether it be travel planning or shopping or just even how they're managing their lives,” Weber said. “So, we have to think about it. We see new trends from the Unpack ’26 survey, and we will continue to advance these trends.”
Evolving AI and Expanding OneKey
Expedia has been proactively implementing generative AI. In May 2024, they launched "Romie," an AI assistant to support travel planning and also adopted a system to directly integrate the Expedia app into ChatGPT in 2025.
“AI can be just the most empowering for a traveler to really plan out itineraries, think about places they might go, think about places they might go based on their interests or other types of trips that they'd like,” Weber said.” “There's a lot of ways you can get ideas. So we focused on itinerary planning.”
Also, she revealed, “You still may do your planning in one place but do your booking in another. We need to do both seamlessly.”
On the other hand,, she emphasized, “Even though AI is evolving, it is very important to build trust with travelers. It is really important in the Japanese market.”
Weber explained "OneKey," a loyalty program that integrates customer IDs from three brands: Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. She revealed that Japanese members have been increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic, because domestic travel market have been active.
Weber said, "There are many opportunities in Japan (including OneKey). We will continue to thoroughly implement a localized approach and provide the best value."
