News

Bounce Japan and NAVITIME Japan started the system linkage between Bounce Japan’s ‘Bounce' and NAVITIME’s ‘Japan Travel by NAVITIME' to help international visitors find baggage storage spots on their traveling routes.

JAL will start serving daily flights between Narita and Delhi, India with Boeing 787-8 on January 17 2026, expecting to meet both business and leisure travel demands and transit demands from South Asia to North America via Narita.

The average occupancy rate of 113 hotels in Kyoto City was 76.8% in August 2025, and ADR was down 6.7% to 16,863 yen. DMO KYOTO has forecasted that the occupancy rates are expected to be 86.2% in October.

Agoda implemented improvement of functions on the booking platform, including stricter compliance standards for third-party suppliers, an AI-based trouble detection tool and a 24/7 support service.

Michelin Guide unveiled 128 Michelin Key 2025 hotels and ryokans in Japan. 3 Michelin keys go to ‘Asaba’ in Shizuoka for the firs time (promoted from 2 key) in addition to six hotels selected last year.

JTB has launched a new sharing service ‘Baggage GO’ to match a traveler who wants to deliver baggage in a tourist destination with a driver who wants to take it on a system.

The number of visitors to “Tourism EXPO Japan 2025’ at Aichi Sky Expo from September 25 to 28 2025 was 126,900 in total, exceeding the initial expectation of 100,000.

Event booking platform ‘Peatix’ has launched ‘Visiting Japan,’ a new service for international visitors to Japan to find and book events in multi-languages.

World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released ‘Future of the Travel & Tourism Workforce." Japan is most severely affected, with a labor supply shortfall of 29% compared to demand levels in 2035.

JTB and Airbnb Japan have launched a local revitalization project named ‘Mirai Nigiwai Kobo’ in Japanese to solve a variety of issues in local areas and create new sustainable values.

JR East, a Japanese railway company covering eastern Japan, has begun linking ‘Welcome Suica Mobile,’ an app for international visitors to Japan, with JR-EAST Train Reservation,’ a ticket booking platform.

Rakuten Travel, one of the largest OTAs in Japan, has launched an AI agent ‘Rakuten Travel AI Hotel Search’ that assists a user to find hotel or ryokan candidates, based on reviews and the booking trend analysis data.

Yokohama City Visitors Bureau launched a new tourism branding campaign ‘Blooming Yokohama’ to create momentum for ‘GREEN×EXPO 2027,' which will be held from March 19 to September 26 2027.

The number of Japanese passengers from/to Narita Airport in August 2025 was up15% year on year to 1,050,000, exceeding 1 million a month for the first time since the pandemic ended.

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 with a theme of ‘Travel for Discovery and New Encounters’ opened at Aichi Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture on September 25. At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent a video message: “Tourism is a core industry in the regions.

‘JTB BÓKUN,’ an activity booking management system, has launched a new system linkage with ‘OMUSUBI,’ a SEEC’s booking management system to manage bookings from multiple OTAs.

Prince Hotels Worldwide (SPW) will acquire all stocks of Seattle-based lifestyle hotel brand Ace Group International LLC (AGI) at up to $90 million. SPW is going to accelerate its global business development strategy.

Airbnb's economic contribution to GDP by stays and the related spending in Japan amounted to 770 billion yen in 2024, according to the survey conducted by Oxford Economics.

The number of Japanese outbound travelers in August 2025 was up 14.7% year on year to 1,648,300, the most outbound travelers in this year.

The number of international arrivals in Japan in August 2025 was up 16.9% year on year to 3,428,000. After the single-digit growths for the past two months, the growth rate returned to double-digit again.