News

JTB Tourism Research & Consulting reported the survey results about usage of smartphone and travel spending in Japan. SNS is widely used not only for consumption-related information but also for news or current affairs.

ANA has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Trip.com Group to increase travelers from China to Japan, opening a flagship shop and deliver LIVE commerce on Trip.com website and app.

According to Booking.com, among top 10 destinations that are still unknown but are getting popularity among Asian travelers, Japanese regions ranks 3rd to 10th. Top was Camariñas in Spain, followed by Mexico, Missouri, USA.

To support the Noto Peninsula Earthquake-hit regions, a travel discount program is launched for four prefectures, which will be available from March to late April before Golden Week period starts.

Spending in Japan by international travelers in 2023 increased by 9.9% to record-high 5,292 billion JPY compared to 2019. Taiwan was the top source market with 778.6 billion JPY.

JTB CEO Eijiro Yamakita talked about the JTB’ s business focuses in 2024 and business environment surrounding the tourism industry, pointing out three challenges for the tourism industry: worsening labor shortages, technology support, and sustainability initiatives.

The number of Japanese outbound travelers was down 52.1% to 9,624,100 in 2023 compared to 2019, though the result was about 3.5 times more than 2022.

The number of international visitors in Japan 2023 reached 25,066,100, almost 80% of the result in 2019 (31,882,049), adding 2,734,000 in December 2023. Compared to 2022, more than 20 million increased at once.

JAL announced that Mitsuko Tottori will take office as new president on April 1 2024. Tottori, who came from a cabin attendant, will be the first female president for JAL.

HIS launches a new service for group travel, working together with Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, offering ‘Malama Hawaii’ program on SDGs or regenerative tourism.

185 famous restaurants in Kyoto City offer respective winter-limited menus with their transparent price ranges espeically for inbound travelers.

The ratio of Japanese people who prefer to be alone was 56.3% in 2023, 12.8 higher points than 1993. The ratio of those who prefer to be alone rose across all generations.

Taxi app ‘GO’ provider is starting support services to taxi companies that are planning to start a ride-share service, developing an app for ride-share drivers and a management system for operators and local governments.

Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) is focusing on revival of outbound travel, regarding several anniversary events as good opportunities, and has an idea to support tourism in Hokuriku area that has catastrophically damaged by Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

Total number of guest nights in November 2023 (provisionally) was up 16.9% year on year to 53.6 million, which were up 7.9% compared to the same month of 2019. The share of foreigners’ guest nights was 22.8% of the total in October.

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism decided not to accept an IR (Integrated Resort) plan applied by Nagasaki Prefecture and KYUSHU Resorts Japan mainly because of the certainty of fund rising.

ZIP AIR, a JAL Group hybrid airline, will begin serving three flights a week between Narita and Vancouver on March 13 2024. One-way airfares are from 101,325 JPY for ZIP Full-Flat Value.

Tokyo Metro and YAMAHA will begin testing a new multi-language service ‘Visualized Announcement’ transcribing voice announcements in a station on a smartphone.

BRIDGE MULTILINGUAL SOLUTIONS has provided ‘free telephone interpretation service’ for foreigners living in Japan who have devastated by Noto Peninsula earthquake.

JTB has forecasted that the number of Japanese travelers in 2024 are expected to reach 287.5 million, and the number of inbound travelers will reach the most-ever 33.1 million, 31.3% more than a year ago or 3.8% more than 2019.