News
Airbnb contributes $1 million to a Japan-U.S. regional tourism exchange program, sending Japanese tourism professionals to U.S.
Airbnb will contribute $1 million (about 153 million JPY) to a regional tourism exchange program between Japan and U.S, sending 15 to 20 tourism professionals from Japan to U.S.
JR Tokai, a train operator of Japan, will introduce luxury private rooms in Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train for executive passengers
JR Tokai will introduce luxury private rooms with more luxury services and equipments than the first-class Green Car cabin in Tokaido Shinkansen in 2026.
JAL and ANA have received around 10% more international flight bookings for this coming Golden Week holiday period
ANA and JAL have received around 10% more international flight bookings for this coming Golden Week holiday period. ANA's bookings on Honolulu flights increased by 1.5 times to record-high 15,993.
Japanese outbound travelers still recovered slowly to 1.2 million in March 2024
The number of Japanese outbound travelers was down 36.8% to 1,219,800 in March 2024 compared to the same month 2019.
International visitors to Japan exceeded 3 million in March 2024 for the first time, boosted by cherry blossom
The number of international visitors to Japan in March 2024 was up 11.6% to record-high 3,081,600 on a single month, boosted by cherry blossom and the Easter break.
ANA begins serving complimentary in-flight internet access even to international flight business class passengers
ANA will begin serving complimentary in-flight internet access even to Business Class passengers on its international flights in this coming summer.
47% of inbound travelers in Japan said that clean public toilets make them have better images of the areas
TOTO survey finds that 47.1% answered that clean public toilets make them have better images of the areas, and 88% want WASHLET with cleaning technology by hot water droplets in public toilets.
Guest nights in home-sharing in Japan for the first two months of 2024 were 30% more than a year ago
The number of guest nights in lawfully-registered home-sharing properties for the first two months of 2024 was up 27.7% to 239,333 compared to a year ago. Tokyo had the most 132,137 guest days.
JTB works together with Asahi Breweries to develop a nighttime rickshaw tour in Asakusa for inbound travelers
JTB, Asahi Breweries and Jidaiya, a rickshaw operator, worked together for a inbound travel program to tour cherry blossom spots in Asakusa by rickshaw. The program is to boost nighttime economy by inbound travelers.
Interest in overseas travel of Japanese people is much lower than the world’s average
American Express International’s survey ‘American Express Global Travel Trend Report’ finds the ratio of Japanese people who answered that they want to travel overseas more than before in 2024 was just 15%, which was much lower than the world average.
Foreigners’ guest nights in Japan were up 23% in February 2024 compared to pre-pandemic
The total number of guest nights in February 2024 (provisionally) was up 17.0% year on year to 48.2 million. Guest nights by foreigner travelers were up 23.4% to 11.4 million compared to the same month of 2019.
A new service to research ancestors Japanese-descent foreigners is launched as a roots discovery travel
SekainoKakehasi, providing family story research service, launched a new service for Japanese-descent foreigners as roots tourism to visit the ancestor-related places.
Trip.com Group VP talks about what the OTA focuses on now, including outbound travel from China to Japan
Boon Sian Chai, Managing Director and Vice President International Markets at Trip.com, talked about the present and the future of Trip.com, including the outbound travel market from China to Japan.
Japanese outbound travelers are expected to recover to 90% of the pre-pandemic level during this year’s Golden Week period
JTB has estimated that the total number of Japanese travelers during this year’s Golden Week period (April 25 to May 5) will be up 1.8% to 23.3 million, including 520,000 outbound travelers, 67.7% more than a year ago.
Japanese government starts issuing 'digital nomad’ visa to foreigners with annual income of 10 million JPY or more in 50 countries or regions
Ministry of Justice of Japan has started issuing ‘digital nomad’ visa to a foreigner with annual income of 10 million JPY or more in about 50 visa waiver countries or regions
Japan Tourism Agency selects 20 pioneer model areas for prevention of over-tourism
Japan Tourism Agency has selected 20 pioneer model areas and 51 general areas for prevention of over-tourism, such as ‘Niseko Model for usage of taxi’ in Kutchan, Hokkaido, ‘Equalization of crowd and ease of traffic jam’ in Hakone, Kanagawa.
JAL launches corporate SAF program to issue reliable CO2 reduction certificate
JAL has launched ‘JAL Corporate SAF Program,’ which enables corporate users to visualize CO2 reduction based on JAL flights in terms of cargo transport or business trips.
Cross-border mobile payment ‘Alipay+’ member stores in Japan exceed 2 million
The number of cross-border mobile payment ‘Alipay+’ member stores in Japan has exceeded 2 million. Payment amount with the affiliated e-wallets and bank app increased by 200%.
Tokyo Metro forms a capital and business alliance with BtoB e-ticket platform Linktivity to develop packaged ‘Tokyo City Pass’
Toyo Metro and Linktivity, a BtoB e-ticket platform, formed a capital and business alliance with a plan to develop ‘Tokyo City Pass (provisional name),’ which is packaged with tourist attraction tickets and subway tickets.
Japanese OTA for high-end accommodation opens an overseas hotel booking platform in tie-ups with Expedia
Ikyu, a Japanese OTA for high-end accommodation, opened an overseas hotel booking platform in tie-ups with Expedia Rapid API.
