News
Kyoto City promotes ‘hands free tourism’ to avoid over-tourism, operating dedicated bus to travelers carrying large suitcases
Kyoto City will operate dedicated bus, called ‘Hands Free Bus,’ to travelers carrying large suitcases from Kyoto Station to major hotels in this autumn as one of the efforts to avoid over-tourism.
New Japanese tour operators who are affirmative to enter the inbound travel market have reduced mainly because of worker shortage
The ratio of new tour operators who are affirmative to receive inbound travelers reduced from 51% in the last survey to 44%, according to JATA survey. The top reason was ‘worker shortage’ (61%).
International visitors to Japan were record-high for 7 months in a row with 2.93 million in August 2024
The number of international visitors to Japan in August 2024 reached 2,933,000, 16.4% more than the same month in 2019 and 35% more than a year ago, marking record breaking for 7 months in a row.
Tourism EXPO Japan 2024 opens on September 26 with more foreign exhibitors who want more Japanese outbound travelers
Four-days Tourism EXPO Japan (TEJ) 2024 will open in Tokyo Big Sight on September 26 2026, organizing TEJ Ministerial Round Table, a keynote panel discussion and so on. Exhibitions will be more than 1,500 booths, about 85% of the largest event in 2018.
The most-wanted non-alcohol beverage in Japan among travelers from Taiwan and Hong Kong is ‘milk’
The most-wanted non-alcohol beverages in Japan among travelers from Taiwan and Hong Kong is 'milk' because the quality of Japanese milk is very high with rich and tasty.
Using the Murata Manufacturing’s technology, Resorttrust hotels of Japan analyzes guests’ health conditions to propose personalized wellness activities
Resorttrust, a Japanese hotel operation firm, will begin a demonstration program to propose personalized wellness activities in their hotels by analyzing the peripheral blood circulation of guests.
JAL changes boarding orders for its domestic flights to more smooth way, based on a joint research with Tokyo Institute of Technology
JAL has changed boarding orders and usage of the boarding bridges for wide-body aircraft of domestic flights to enable passengers to board more smoothly, based on the results from a joint research with Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Japan National Tourism Organization will host ‘Adventure Week’ in Tohoku area in the autumn of 2025
Japan National Tourism Organization JNTO) has decided to host ‘Adventure Week’ in Tohoku area in the autumn of 2025 in partnership with Adventure Travel Trade Association(ATTA).
‘Climbing restrictions for Mt.Fuji’ by Yamanashi Prefecture resulted in a 20% decrease in climbers this summer with no days exceeding the daily limit
Yamanashi Prefecture announced the results from the Mt.Fuji climbing restrictions on Fuji Yoshida Route this summer. The number of climbers for the period was down 18% year on year to 125,287, and there were no days exceeding the daily limit of 4,000 climbers.
Guest nights in Japan in July 2024 were up 8.6% year on year, boosted by a 35% increase in foreigners
The total number of guest nights in July 2024 (provisionally) was up 8.6% year on year to 59.2 million, which were also up 14.2% compared to the same month of 2019. Guest nights of foreigner travelers were up 35.2% to 14.9 million
Private tours to three famous temples in Kyoto are available for limited guests in HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO at 400,000 yen
HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO will offer ‘Special Private Tours’ to three famous temples in Kyoto, Kiyomizudera, Toji and Hokyoji, for limited guests in this coming autumn.
Tobu Railway and Hitachi launch biometric authentication services, such as empty-hand payment or maybe passing through a railway gate in the future
Tobu Railway and Hitachi are gradually introducing a biometric authentication-based digital identity platform in 100 or more commercial facilities. They expects to to expand opportunities to use the service, probably passing through a railway gate, in the future.
Autumn leaves in Japan are forecasted to start from Daisetsuzan Asahidake, Hokkaido in the middle of September
WeatherNews has forecasted that autumn leaves this year are expected to be at their average peak in many places. The peak will come in Daisetsuzan Asahidake, Hokkaido around September 14,
How should a Japanese local government acquire financial resources for a long-term tourism plan?
Travel Bureau Foundation (JTBF) organized ‘Tourism Resources Seminar’ particularly focusing on accommodation tax to give hints to local tourism organizations, introducing the accommodation tax with the fixed rate of 2% in Kuchan, Hokkaido as a case study.
IHG Hotels & Resorts signs a strategic partnership with HMI, a Japanese hotel management firm, to rebrand three HMI’s operating hotels in Japan to ANA Crowne Plaza
Hotel Management International (HMI) and IHG Hotels & Resorts has reached a strategic partnership agreement, on which Three ‘Crown Palais’ hotels in Koichi City, Chiryu City and Hamamatsu City will be renovated and rebranded to ‘ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel.’
Travel spending in Japan by Japanese travelers was up 7.6% in the Q2 of 2024 compared to 2019
The total amount of Japanese travel spending was up 14.9% year on year to 6.5 trillion yen in the 2nd quarter of 2024. The total consisted of 5.1 trillion yen for overnight trips (up 12.3% over 2019) and 1.3 million yen for day trips (down 7.2% over 2019).
70% of Japanese people agree with ‘double pricing’ for inbound travelers particularly in culture facilities or nature preservation areas
The latest survey on ‘double pricing’ for inbound travelers finds that 69.5% of Japanese respondents agreed to set higher prices for inbound travelers than for Japanese citizen particularly in culture facilities or nature preservation areas
Japan Tourism Agency requests several revisions in the duty-free rules to raise conveniences for inbound travelers
Japan Tourism Agency requests several revisions in the duty-free rules to raise conveniences for inbound travelers and to reduce burdens on duty-free retailers, including abolition of the upper limit amount of 500,000 yen for consumable goods.
Japan Tourism Agency requests 1.2 times more budget for FY2025 than FY2024, addressing new projects including accommodation business revitalization
Japan Tourism Agency has requested a budget of 62.8 billion yen in total for FY2025, budgeting accommodation business revitalization and building of build a new duty-free shop model in local areas as new projects.
Japan’s leading travel firm HIS signs an agreement with Atami City for inbound tourism promotion
HIS, a Japan’s leading travel firm, and Atami City, a popular onsen destination, signed an agreement on inbound travel promotion. The first effort is that HIS Taiwan will send its local staff to Atami.
