JTB is accelerating expansion of the global business under the value creation process of ‘Bringing People, Places and Possibilities Together,’ hoping that JTB may earn 50% of its operating profit from the global business in the future. Meanwhile, JTB focuses on ‘Intelligence’ as a new business pillar to make use of knowledge and information in the world’s tourism industry for the business management.
JTB announced on August 29 2025 that the tourism giant in Japan acquires Northstar Travel Group (NTG) as a 100% subsidiary, expecting that the acquisition will be a power to create unprecedented tourism and exchange of people. Eijiro Yamakita, JTB CEO, explained how JTB draws up its future picture with the acquisition of NTG.
Connecting the world’s intelligences and boosting values of tourism
NTG is the world’s top BtoB tourism media to providing the latest news and marketing solutions, having 14 brands, such as ‘Travel Weekly,’ ‘Business Travel News’ or ‘Phocuswire,’ under the umbrella and also organizing more than 100 tourism events in 13 countries that create a network with more than 1.3 tourism people.
In addition, NTG owns survey and intelligence bodies, including ‘Phocuswright,’ to provide tourism leaders with reliable data and analyses that help them make decisions. NTG also hosts ‘Phocuswright Conference’ every year, where tourism leaders come together to share the latest trends and intelligences.
“The COVID-19 pandemic stopped every tourism activities, and tourism was deemed non-essential,” Yamakita said. “I seriously felt at that time that tourism had not yet become a core industry,” The reality was that tourism values had not been visualized theoretically and scientifically. Although tourism is an industry to connect people and cultures beyond borders, the world’s discussions about tourism did not reach to Japan, which highlighted the limit of tourism in Japan.
Yamakita explained why JTB had an eye on NTG: “It is necessary for all businesses involved, including travel agencies, airlines, railways, hotels and restaurants, to incorporate global knowledge. We recognized that we need to add ‘intelligence’ as a new pillar of our business for a sustainable growth.”
Another perspective is evolution of technologies. Yamakita pointed out that the spread of the internet has made customer journeys much more convenient, but the added value of the whole industry has not necessarily increased. JTB accordingly made a decision to acquire NTG that has business strengths in travel-tech spaces, preparing for coming AI era. JTB has already launched ‘Global Tourism Intelligences’ with NTG.
Exchange itself can be media
To obtain global knowledge and information becomes a step to foster ‘JTB Tourism Research & Consulting,’ a JTB’s think tank, to an opinion leader in the global tourism industry. By delivering travel trends not only from Japan but also from the world, JTB Tourism Research & Consulting is expected to become an intelligence organization to enhance JTB’s research functions and to contribute to creation of values for the entire tourism industry.
Moreover, leveraging NTG's expertise in global events and networks, JTB will create a new system that will drive the entire industry by engaging tourism-related companies, regions, and players from other industries. Exchange itself can be media. “When people with new interests and awareness of issues gather in a physical space, and companies and local governments are involved, new value is created,” Yamakita said. “The places can function as media to generate information and move society forward.”
JTB will encourage JTB employees to attend the global tourism conferences organized by NTG. “I hope that gaining experience building relationships through real-world business will enhance our human resources,” Yamakita said, “Even if you are responsible for a business in Japan, I want each employee to be aware of the world and keep their ears to the ground, so that they can foster global exchange and expand our business.”
Yamakita talks about the JTB global business.
Creating overwhelming strengths in each segment
JTB is strengthening strategic partnerships, Yamakita said, “The competitive environment is constantly changing. It is important for us to create overwhelming strengths in each segment, rather than simply winning through scale.” JTB plans to execute another M&A or form new partnerships to raise its presence in each region or each business segment.
In addition, JTB is aware of sharing global ethic and common ideas. The JTB Group’s mission is ‘We strive to foster peace and global interconnectedness through the creation of opportunities for meaningful human interaction,’ which is a common base for any regions and any businesses. Yamakita emphasized that the business base is in a source of value creation that anything can be connected anywhere.
Yamakita mentioned how JTB uses AI and data, too. JTB forms an exclusive team for data analysis and encourages employees to use AI chat on a daily basis. He said, “The time saved by AI can be redirected to more creative activities, leading to improved human resource development and intelligence.”
