News
Activity booking management system ‘JTB BÓKUN’ launches a new system linkage to manage both domestic and overseas bookings
‘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.
Seibu Prince Hotel of Japan acquires Seattle-based lifestyle hotel brand Ace Hotel to accelerate its global business development
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 contributed to 770 billion yen to GDP in Japan, with three days stay on average by international guests
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.
Japanese outbound travelers were up 15% year on year to 1.65 million, 80% of the 2019 level
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.
International arrivals in Japan reached 3.4 million in August 2025, the first over 3 million for August
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.
QR code for Shinkansen on Wechat mini program is now available for Chinese travelers, who can pass through the gate by holding it on
JR Tokai, JR West Japan and JR Kyushu have begun selling QR code for Shinkansen, instead of paper tickets, for Chinese travelers on Wechat mini program, working with Linktivity.
The city in Asia with the most repeat travelers in the first half of 2025 was Bangkok, followed by Tokyo
OTA Agoda announced that the city in Asia with the most repeat travelers in the first half of 2025 was Bangkok, followed by Tokyo. By country or region, the top was Japan.
Yahoo! Search offers a function for a user to create travel routes in conversation with generative AI
ahoo! Search has begun offering a AI assistant function for a user to create travel routes in conversation with generative AI.
A Nihonbashi tour in Tokyo remotely guided by an avatar robot on a traveler’s shoulder is launched
A new tour guided by avatar robot ‘OriHime’ in Nihonbashi area was launched. A pilot can guide a traveler through the "OriHime" that sets on your shoulders, allowing them to walk and talk.
Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 will open in Aichi on September 25, appealing countries or regions directly fling from Centrair Airport
‘Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi/Central Japan (TEJ2025)’ with a theme of ‘Travel for Discovery and New Encounters’ will open at Aichi Sky Expo for four days from September 25 2025.
GSTC2025 discussed a world-standard to overcome challenges against sustainable tourism that the world faces today
Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) held GSTC 2025 international conference in Fiji. Randy Durband, GSTC CEO, talked about the current challenges against sustainable tourism and a roadmap to solve them.
Autumn foliage viewing in Japan are expected to be at their average peak, but colors might change due to the extreme heat in this summer
WeatherNews has forecasted that autumn leaves this year are expected to be at their average peak or a little bit behind usual nationwide. Part of autumn leaves might be damaged the colors.
JUNGLIA OKINAWA, a new theme-park in Okinawa, offers a special ticket exclusively for local residents
JUNGLIA OKINAWA sells a special ticket exclusively for local residents in Okinawa in the limited period from September 1 2025 to October 31 2025.
LOTTE Holdings, a Japan-Korea conglomerate, launches ‘LOTTE HOTEL JAPAN’ with a goal of 20 new hotels in Japan in the next decade
LOTTE Holdings, a Japan-Korea conglomerate, launched ‘LOTTE HOTEL JAPAN’ in order to expand the hotel business in Japan to 4,500 rooms of 20 hotels in the next decade.
JTB launches a new inbound travel strategy to increase transactions by 2.7 times by 2030
JTB launched a new inbound travel strategy ‘Inbound VISION 2030' with goals to increase transactions by 2.7 times and gross profit by 2.9 times by 2030 compared to 2025.
Local cafes are the most preferred places for breakfast among repeat visitors to Japan from Taiwan and Hong Kong
71.1% of travelers to Japan from Taiwan and Hong Kong have full breakfast during staying in Japan. 68% select local restaurant or cafe as the most preferable place for breakfast.
Japanese domestic travel consumption was up 6% in the Q2 of 2025 with a rise in spending per traveler
Total amount of Japanese domestic travel consumption was up 6.2% year on year to 6.8 trillion yen in the 2nd quarter of 2025. Travel spending a travel per traveler was up 5.8% to 46,676 yen.
Major three railway companies of Japan begin a new Shinkansen booking service on LINE, the biggest communication app in Japan
JR Tokai, JR West Japan and JR Kyushu will begin a new Shinkansen booking service on LINE, the biggest communication app in Japan. PayPay, a digital wallet, can be selected as payment.
Japan is by far a top destination to revisit, while awareness of ‘onsen’ is still low in U.S. or Europe, according to the ‘Japan Brand’ survey
Dentsu's ‘Japan Brand Survey 2025’ shows that Japan was by far a top destination to revisit, as 52.7% of all respondents answered that they want to visit Japan again, and the satisfaction rates of foreign travelers who have visited local regions were 96.2%.
JTB acquires BtoB tourism media Group ‘Northstar Travel,’ placing Phocuswright and Travel Weekly under the umbrella
JTB has reached an agreement with the world-leading BtoB tourism media ‘Northstar Travel Group (NTG) to acquire all stocks of NTG, placing Travel Weekly, Phocuswright or Business Travel News under the umbrella.
