News
An IR plan of Nagasaki Prefecture is not approved because of an uncertain fund rising plan
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.
JAL Group ZIP AIR will launch Narita-Vancouver services on March 13 2024 as its fourth North America route
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 tests a new multi-language service transcribing voice station announcement on a smartphone without an app
Tokyo Metro and YAMAHA will begin testing a new multi-language service ‘Visualized Announcement’ transcribing voice announcements in a station on a smartphone.
Free telephone interpretation service is provided for foreigners in Japan devastated by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake
BRIDGE MULTILINGUAL SOLUTIONS has provided ‘free telephone interpretation service’ for foreigners living in Japan who have devastated by Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JTB estimates the most-ever inbound travelers of 33.1 million to Japan in 2024, but outbound travelers are still expected to recover slowly
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.
Recovery of Japanese outbound travelers was still slow with 1 million in November 2023
The number of Japanese overseas travelers was down 37.5% to 1,027,100 in November 2023 compared to the same month of 2019.
International arrivals in Japan already exceeded 20 million, adding 2.4 million in November 2023
The number of international visitors in Japan in November 2023 reached 2,440,800, close to 2,441,274 in November 2019, totaling 22.3 million for the first 11 months of 2023.
Ride-sharing will be approved firstly for taxi operators in Japan in April 2024 and then extended to consumer-to-consumer service
The Japanese government has decided to approve ride-sharing service partially in April 2024. Firstly, taxi operators can be a ride-sharing operators in particular local areas suffering shortage of taxies.
ANA received the most bookings ever for Hawaii, and JAL 34% more bookings for Europe in this coming New Year holidays
In this coming New Year holiday period (December 28 2023 to January 3 2024), ANA has received 1.9 times more bookings for Hawaii than a year ago, and JAL has increased bookings for Europe by 34%.
The most-searched tourist spot on navigation app NAVITIME Japan in 2023 was Universal Studio Japan for two years in a row
According to NAVITIME Japan, a Japan’s leading navigation app, the most-searched tourist spot in 2023 was ‘Universal Studio Japan.' For foreigners, the top was ‘Fushimi Inari Taisha' in Kyoto.
Total sales of 43 Japanese major travel companies in October 2023 decreased by 23% over 2019
Sales of 43 major travel companies in October 2023 were down 22.9% to 347 billion JPY compared to the same month of 2019. As sales of both domestic and overseas package tours were largely down, a trend to shift from group travel to FIT seemed to be strong.
ANA launches a new virtual trip app, eyeing creation of a community and services for daily life as an entrance to an ANA economic zone
ANA NEO, an ANA Group company for digital solution, has launched a virtual trip platform app ‘ANA GranWhale,’ where a user as an avatar can enjoy virtual travel space ‘V-TRIP’ and a virtual shopping space ‘Sky Mall.’
40% of Japanese people are willing to travel overseas within a year, but they are concerned about exchange rate and security
The ratio of respondents who plan to travel overseas within a year was 40%, higher than 28% in the previous survey a year ago, according to the Sony Bank survey. The top concern was ‘exchange rate’ at 72%.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China reveals visa wavier has given a big impact to the inbound travel market, increasing foreign visitors by 39% in December
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said that visa wavier for 6 countries has been working well, for the first three days, about 7,000 out of all travelers of about 18,000 from those countries entered China without visas.
A Japanese e-ticket management system provider partners Sapporo City to promote business jet tours at Okadama Airport
Japanticket, an e-ticket management system provider, and Sapporo City signed a partnership agreement on promotion of business jet operation at Okadama Airport. Japanticket has performed several trial gastronomy tours using made-in-Japan HondaJet.
Hankyu a major Japanese travel agent, and NAVITIME JAPAN work together to develop tours for inbound luxury travelers
Hankyu Travel International, a major travel company of Japan, and NAVITIME JAPAN, a navigation app provider, will jointly develop tours for luxury inbound travelers.
A major Japanese data company opens a capsule hotel specializing in sleep analysis as ‘sleep tech’
NTT Data, a major Japanese data company, will open a capsule hotel specializing in sleep analysis, acquiring, accumulating and analyzing sleep data using infrared cameras, sound-collecting microphones, and body movement sensors.
Amazon launches ‘Alexa’ for hotels as part of its first BtoB services, making bulk installation in a property possible
Amazon Japan (Amazon) has begun offering ‘Alexa Smart Properties (ASP)’ as a service for businesses using the personal AI assistant Alexa. Tokyu Hotels & Resorts will introduce Echo Show 8 to 56 premium class rooms at the lifestyle hotel "SAPPORO STREAM HOTEL" that will open in Sapporo on January 16 2024.
JTB forecasts total number of Japanese travelers during this coming New Year holidays will almost recover with record-high average domestic travel expenses
JTB forecasted the total number of Japanese travelers would be up 5% year on year or down 5% over 2019 to 28.6 million during this coming New Year holiday period. Domestic travelers are estimated at 28 million, and Japanese outbound travelers at 580,000.
Japan National Tourism Organization launches a special website for Osaka Kansai EXPO, encouraging inbound travelers to visit local areas
Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) launched a special website for the Osaka Kansai Expo, expecting the Expo is an opportunity to encourage inbound tourists to visit regional areas.
