Japan Bound

Japan Tourism Agency will develop a pilot program to restart receiving leisure-purpose inbound travel by the end of Mayto draw up a guideline for tour operators and accommodation providers.

Spending by international visitors in Japan amounted to 35.2 billion JPY for the first three months of 2022. Based on 100,566 visitors, spending a visitor was 350,225 JPY.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)'s survey finds that potential visitors to Japan are estimated at about 330 million out of the total population of 4.5 billion in 22 focus markets. About 40% of overseas travel experiences in Taiwan and Hong Kong have visited Japan four times or more.

Chineses viewers of the virtual tours connected to cross-border e-commerce on the Alibaba platform, which were broadcasted by Japan National Tourism Organization reached 1.35 million in total.

ANA X and ANA Business Jet, ANA Group companies, have joined ‘Travel concierge services for luxury travelers’ program to launch ‘nfinity,’ a travel concierge brand, which is engaged in development of unique and rich experiences.

The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) Tourism Committee compiled requests for tourism recovery in Japan, including effective operation of ‘Go To Travel’ and extension of the program.

This is the story that I, as Travel Voice reporter, experienced the first overseas coverage for Hawaii in the past two years and a half. I found that there were still a lot of challenges for outbound travel from Japan or inbound travel to Japan. Unreasonable procedures waited for me when I arrived in Japan.

Kouraku Japan, a marketing company for Chinese high-end consumers, broadcasted a virtual tourism tour combined with live e-commerce for Kagoshima Prefecture on Alibaba Group’s ‘Fliggy,’

Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida officially announced that the current border restrictions will gradually be eased on March 1, adding that the most severe level among G7 nations will be maintained.

JNTO announced results of its research on how Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics affected foreign people’s willingness to visit Japan, and ‘higher value-added travel,’ ‘sustainable tourism’ and ‘adventure tourism’ as its promotional focuses.

How did foreign media in Japan see Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in the last summer? Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) issued a summarized report.

The number of international arrivals in Japan in 2021 was 245,900, down 94% over 2020 (4,115,828) or down 99.2% over pre-COVID-19 2019 (31,882,049), according to JNTO.

According to JTB Tourism Research & Consulting survey, the ratios of people who have been motivated to visit Japan by Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were 6% in China, 30.2% in U.K. and 26.7% in Australia.

JR EAST launched ‘JR TIMES,’ an travel information site exclusively for Taiwanese travelers for the future, offering a cross-border EC function to sell limited local products in Japan.

The number of international arrivals in Japan in November 2021 was 20,700 only, 63.5% fewer than a year ago. Omicron variant has forced the Japanese government to suspend the deregulations for a month at least.

The number of international visitors to Japan in October 2021 was 22,100 only even though the Japanese government has eased entry restrictions for vaccinated international visitors since October.

The Japanese government has shortened the quarantine days for vaccinated business persons to three days and restarted accepting new international students and technical trainees since November 8 2021.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is addressing sustainable tourism in Japan more seriously from standpoints of protecting and cultivating ‘environment,’ ‘culture’ and ‘economy’ in local communities, particularly focusing on the European market.

The number of international visitors to Japan in September 2021 reduced again to 17,700 from 51,000 in July and 26,000 in August because Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics ended.

Yoshiharu Hoshino, Hoshino Resorts CEO, talked about the current business condition and the future business at ‘Hoshino Resorts LIVE 2021 Autumn.' He said international travelers to Japan would not come back easily .