News
Spending in Japan by international travelers in 2023 reached record-high 5.3 trillion JPY
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 talks about business focuses in 2024, from a product strategy to new tour routes for inbound travelers
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.
Japanese outbound travelers were 9.6 million in 2023, not reaching half of those in 2019
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.
Japan welcomed more than 25 million international visitors in 2023, 80% of the pre-pandemic level
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 appoints former cabin attendant as its first female president
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.
Japan's leading travel agent HIS launches a new service for group travel to Hawaii, proposing a team-building program to corporate travel
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 work together to offer winter-limited menus with transparent prices for inbound travelers
185 famous restaurants in Kyoto City offer respective winter-limited menus with their transparent price ranges espeically for inbound travelers.
Japanese people who prefer to be alone has significantly increased across all generations, with 54% saying they prefer to be alone
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.
Japanese taxi app ‘GO’ prepares for a ride-share service in Japan, supporting to taxi companies and local governments
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 is focusing on revival of outbound travel and high value travel through 2024 as challenging themes
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.
Guest nights in Japan by both Japanese and foreigners finally exceeded the pre-pandemic level for three consecutive months
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.
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%.
