News
Japanese passport holder percentage is just 17% in 2024, reduced by 15% compared to 2019
The number of general passport issues was up 8.8% year on year to 3.7 million in 2024, and the passport holder percentage was just 16.8% of the entire population of 123 million.
ANA begins ticket sales on Hopper through NDC to offer a variety of ancillary services
ANA and U.S.-based OTA Hopper have begun selling ANA tickets through IATA’s leading New Distribution Capability (NDC), powered by Ireland-based Openjaw Technologies and delivered through Travelfusion, a major content aggregator.
Private Jet tour with pets to a remote island in Nagasaki, Japan is now on sale
Air X, a helicopter tour operator, has begun selling a private jet tour with pets to Iki Island in Nagasaki. The private jet tour takes travelers to the island for 2 hours and 5 minutes from Tokyo.
Osaka Prefecture will raise the accommodation tax rates in September 2025, expected tax revenue will increase to 8 billion yen a year
Osaka Prefecture will raise the lowest targeting accommodation price from 7,000 currently to 5,000 yen and the tax rates on September 1 2025, expected to increase tax revenue from 2.5 billion yen a year in 2023 to 8 billion yen a year.
Travel consumption in Japan by Japanese travelers was record-high in 2024 with a 25% increase in spending per traveler
The total amount of Japanese travel consumption in Japan was up 14.6% year on year to record-high 25.1 trillion yen in 2024, and travel spending a travel per traveler was up 5.8% year on year to record-high 46,579 yen.
Japanese outbound travelers were up 8.8% year on year to 910,000 in January 2025
The number of Japanese outbound travelers in January 2025 was up 8.8% year on year to 912,300, still 37.2% fewer travelers than January in 2019, still affected by weaker yen and rise in prices in Japan.
International visitors to Japan broke the single-month-record in January 2025, boosted by Chinese New Year holidays
The number of international visitors to Japan in January 2025 was up 40.6% year on year to 3,781,200, breaking the single-month record for two months in a row, boosted by Chinese New Year holidays.
Hotel Okura, a Japanese prestige hotel brand forms a strategic alliance with a resort hotel brand of Indonesia
Hotel Okura, a Japanese prestige hotel brand formed a strategic alliance with Plataran Indonesia, a resort hotel brand of Indonesia, for business collaborations. They saw many common grounds in management philosophy.
An innovative tourism service for local residents to create a tour as ‘casts’ is launched in Shikoku, Japan
‘Tabi wa hitomakase (Travel depends on local people in English)' was launched in Shikoku, Japan. Local residents as ‘casts’ share local lives and experiences with travelers as ‘guests,’ which is expected to provide deeper connections with people with travelers.
Hankyu Travel, a Japanese travel agent, will charter France-based cruise Ponant in 2027 for luxury international travelers to Japan
Hankyu Travel International, a Japanese travel agent, will charter ‘Le Jacques Cartier,’ a cruise ship of France-based Ponant, in March and April 2027 to offer Setonaikai cruise tours to luxury international travelers to Japan.
‘Linktivity,’ an e-ticket booking platform of Japan, starts dealing with transportation pass in Shanghai on global 400 OTAs
‘Linktivity,’ a BtoB e-ticket booking platform of Japan, started dealing with ‘Shanghai Pass,’ transportation pass in Shanghai on global 400 OTAs, including Japanese OTAs, connecting to Linktivity.
Hong Kong-based Klook raised another funds of $100 million to expand partnership with Google Cloud for AI and collaborations with tourism authorities in APAC
Klook, a Hong Kong-based local experience booking platform, raised funds of $100 million to expand partnership with Google Cloud in the AI development and to collaborate with local tourism authorities.
The average daily rate of hotels in Kyoto City reached record-high 20,195 yen with the occupancy rate of 78.5% in 2024
The occupancy rate of hotels in Kyoto City was 78.5% in 2024, 5.1 higher points than 2023. The average daily rate (ADR) was record-high 20,195 yen, higher than 17,403 yen in 2023 or 15,610 yen in 2019.
Bangkok-based Minor Hotels operating in 58 countries worldwide enters the luxury market of Japan in tie-up with Richmond Hotel operator
Royal Holdings of Japan, an operator of Richmond Hotels,and Minor Hotels, a Bangkok-based luxury hotel and resort residence operator, will launch a joint venture ‘Royal Minor Hotels’ to open 21 luxury hotels in Japan.
JR Kyushu, a railway company of Japan, and SkyDrive ally with Oita Prefecture for ‘Flying Car’ tour services
JR Kyushu, a railway company covering Kyushu area, and SkyDrive, a ‘Flying Car’ developer, signed a comprehensive agreement with Oita Prefecture to launch sightseeing tours by ‘Flying Car’ in Beppu Bay in 2028.
‘Disney Cruise’ in Japan will be operated by Yusen Group, an Asuka operator, offering 1250 cabins for 5,500 passengers
Oriental Land, a Tokyo Disney Resort operator, signed a basic agreement with Nippon Yusen and Yusen Cruise for a joint cruise business based in Japan in 2028, making ‘Family Entertainment Cruise’ come true.
Highway bus WILLER is booked by 11 times more Chinese travelers to Japan during this year’s Chinese New Year holiday period than a year go
Highway bus WILLER's Chinese passengers increased to 2,473 as of January 28 2025 during the Chinese New Year holiday period (January 13 to February 23 2025), which were about 11 times more than a year ago.
e-ticket management system provider ‘Japan ticket’ connects with Klook on API for pre-payment and instant booking for international travelers
Japan ticket, an e-ticket management system provider for international travelers to Japan, has started connecting with Klook to allow users to book tourism experiences provided by Japan ticket on the Klook platform.
Online booking for Shinkansen in the western Japan is now available on Apple Map
JR West, a railway company of Japan, has begun connecting online and ticketless booking services ‘Express Booking’ and ‘Smart EX’ with the route search on Apple Map.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card reveals that credit card payment in Japan by international visitors increased year on year by 55% in 2024
Sumitomo Mitsui Card revealed that international visitors to Japan paid 55.3% more money with credit cards during the period from January to November 2024 than a year ago. Payments in hotels, ryokans, restaurants and amusement parks increased,
