Digital
Kaga City in Japan works together with Uber for a ride-sharing service managed by a local DMO
Uber Japan partners with Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, for a ride-sharing service by a local government. 14 local residents who have passed training courses by Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo initially started the service as drivers.
Activity booking system ‘JTB BÓKUN’ completes API integration with a food experience booking platform for inbound travelers to Japan
‘JTB BÓKUN,’ an activity booking management system,’ has completed API integration with ‘byFood.com' for inbound travelers to Japan, enabling food tour providers on byFood.com to make their operations more effective.
Airport Limousine of Japan begins selling e-tickets on 400 foreign-based OTAs through e-ticket booking platform Linktivity
Airport Limousine has started selling e-tickets on about 400 foreign-based OTAs trough API connections with sales channels on e-ticket booking platform Linktivity.
Japanese navigation app NAVITIME links to Uber taxi app for inbound travelers
NAVITIME Japan has launched linkage of ‘Japan Travel NAVITIME,’ a navigation app for inbound travelers, with Uber taxi app. A taxi can be dispatched without re-inputting riding location and a destination.
ikyu.com is top OTA in Japan for Net Promoter Score, followed by Rakuten Travel and Expedia
No.1 Japanese Net Promoter Score (NPS) OTA is ikyu.com, followed by Rakuten Travel and the Expedia. ikyu.com gets high scores in higher products than expected or imagined and high-quality travel.
Expedia CEO said the OTA giant is strengthening investment to Japan, developing a new marketing campaign
Peter Kern, Vice Chairman and CEO Expedia Group visited Japan, celebrating the18th anniversary of staring its service in Japan. Expedia is developing a new campaign exclusively for Japan, renaming its global branding message ‘Made to Travel’ to ‘Itsumo no Soto.'
A community website for Asian travelers to Japan launches a new SNS with a simultaneous translation function
‘FUN! JAPAN,' a community website for Asian travelers to Japan, launched a new SNS, which is a service for community members to enjoy conversations with simultaneous translation.
Kaga City in Ishikawa Prefecture introduces Uber app for a ride-share service by general drivers
Uber Japan will support Kaga City in Ishikawa Prefecture for a ride-share service by general drivers with its app. The Japanese government will deregulate the ride-share rules for general drivers in this spring.
Airbnb hosts offer secondary shelters to victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake through the non-profit organization
Airbnb has begun offering its listed homes in Ishikawa Prefecture to victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake as secondary shelters through non-profit organization Airbnb.org.
ANA sells air tickets on trip.com through NDC, making possible flight change, repayment or purchase of additional options
ANA has started selling international flight tickets on trip.com through Travelfusion, a NDC aggregator, allowing a user to change a flight, repay and purchase optional services in addition to booking and ticketing on trip.com.
Japanese AI speaker provider TradFit launches a new service to recommend a right hotel in a destination based on smartphone data
TradFit, a Japanese AI speaker provider for accommodation, launched a new service to recommend a right hotel in a destination based on data acquired from a user’s smartphone.
Spare-time job offerings by hotels in Japan reached record-high in December 2023 due to serious labor shortage
Timee, a spare-time job matching platform, revealed that the number of spare-time job offerings by hotels increased by about 4.2 times in December 2023 compared to a year ago. it resulted from serious labor shortage in the hospitality industry in Japan.
SNS and map app are more used as tools for collecting tourism information among Japanese travelers, and AI is more used during traveling
JTB Tourism Research & Consulting reported the survey results about usage of smartphone and travel spending in Japan. SNS is widely used not only for consumption-related information but also for news or current affairs.
ANA signs a strategic partnership with Trip.com Group to increase Chinese travelers to Japan, opening a flagship shop on its website and app
ANA has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Trip.com Group to increase travelers from China to Japan, opening a flagship shop and deliver LIVE commerce on Trip.com website and app.
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.
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.
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.’
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.