Travel Sectors

sales of 43 major travel companies in January 2025 were up 3.0% year on year to 230.5 billion yen, and sales in package tours in total almost halved to 48.5 billion yen In comparison with January 2019.

VELTRA, a Japanese local experience booking platform, signed a business partnership with MSC Cruises to launch a cruise booking platform ‘VELTRA Cruise.’

JAL Group made up a Rolling Plan 2025 to accomplish goals under Medium-Term Management Plan FY2021-2025, targeting EBIT of 230 billion yen in FY2028 by creating new businesses to solve social challenges.

Air Canada has started serving authentic Japanese inflight meals overseen by Micheline Star chef in the the Signature Class on the Japan-Canada routes since March 2025.

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi/Central Japan will be held with a theme of ‘‘Travel for Discovery and New Encounters.’ at Aichi Sky Expo from September 25 to 28, expected 100,000 visitors.

Hyatt Hotels launched a new upper-middle short-stay brand ‘Hyatt Select,’ which offers effective and reasonable stay, keeping basic comfortability.

ANA Holdings has decided to place new orders for 77 aircraft in total in order to prepare for an increase in international flight demand, including inbound travel demand to Japan, in the future.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced that its opened hotels in Japan have reach 50 in total, as three new brands of Six Senses,’ ‘Vignette Collection’ and ‘Garner’ recently entered Japan for the first time.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) hosted ‘Japan Luxury Showcase 2025,’ a BtoB event for global travel companies that have luxury travel customers. 40 buyers from 16 countries and 45 domestic sellers met for business discussions.

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.

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.

‘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 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.

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.

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.

A new large-scale amusement park ‘JUNGLIA OKINAWA’ will open in the northern part of Okinawa Prefecture on July 25 2025, differentiating prices between residents in Japan and international visitors. Economic ripple effect is estimated at 6.8 trillion yen for 15 years.

JTB and Airbnb Japan have agreed to work together for reuse of abandoned houses to receive travelers in local regions, having a goal of developing the areas in 100 regions nationwide by 2028.

ANA Group, including Peach Aviation and Air Japan, plans to operate 8% more international flights in FY2025 than FY2024. Peach and Air Japan plan to expand networks for Asia respectively within FY2025. Details will be announced later.

JAL will launch daily services between Narita and Chicago on May 31 2025. Japan Transocean Air (JTA) a JAL Group airline, will launch its first international services between Naha and Taipei by the end of FY2025.

JTB CEO Eijiro Yamakita talked about a business strategy in 2025 at a partner event ‘JTB Group New Year Partnership Meeting 2025,’ redefining its big picture of ‘Bringing People, Places and Possibilities Together. He said, “As AI is evolving rapidly, we have to rethink about values of people.”