News
Local Brand Survey 2020 for 47 prefectures in Japan: Ibaraki gets out of the bottom, while Tokyo sees the biggest reduction
The Local Brand Survey 2020 finds that Ibaraki gets out of the bottom for the first time in the past seven years, while Tokyo ranks down from 3rd last year to 4th. The biggest leap is seen in Nagano, raising the ranking from10th last year (24.8 points) to 8th (30.5 points).
HIS launches a new digital service combing AI-based chat with face-to-face customer communication
HIS launched a new digital service on its smart phone booking site by combining AI-based chat with real customer communication like in-store customer service, expecting to meet needs of contactless services under new normal.
The popularity of ‘Tottori Sand Dunes’ soared as a driving domestic destination in Japan during the big autumn holiday week
According to NAVITIME Japan, the most popular destination was ‘Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall’ in Shizuoka, followed by ‘Tottori Sand Dunes’ in Tottori and ‘Nikko Toshogu’ in Tochigi in big 'Sliver Week' holiday, based on driving navigation service data.
Japan’s domestic travel recovery campaign ‘Go To Travel’ has been used by 18.9 million guest nights for the first two months
The total number of guest nights for the Japanese government’s domestic travel recovery campaign ‘Go To Travel’ has reached 16.9 million for the first two months, and a budget of about 73.5 billion JPY has been used so far.
JAL LCC ZIP AIR TOKYO finally launches two Narita-Seoul flights a week on October 16 2020
JAL’s subsidiary LCC ZIP AIR TOKYO will start serving two flight a week between Narita and Seoul on October 16 2020, four months later than the original plan, following restart of business travel between Japan and South Korea.
Air Asia Japan steps out from Japan, hit by COVID-19, stopping all of its services on December 5 2020
Air Asia Japan will withdraw from all of its services in Japan on December 5 2020, suspending all of its flights since April amid COVID-19. It has judged the LCC business in Japan will no longer survive.
HIS reduced travel business revenue by 33% in 3Q of FY2020, falling into operating loss of 12 billion JPY
HIS suffered from large decreases in revenue and profits in the third quarter of FY2020 (November 1 2019 to July 31 2020), as the main travel business decreased operating revenue by 32.5% to 3346 billion JPY and fell into operating loss of 12 billion JPY from operating profit of 8.2 billion JPY a year ago.
Digital Native Generation in Japan is positive in new normal life amid COVID-19, as 60% say everything can be done with digital
Digital Native Generation in Japan is positive in new normal life amid COVID-19, saying like ‘Everything can be done with digital in my life (58.9%), while many answers are found in 'not keeping enjoying online services replacing real experiences.'
Japan Tourism Agency requests 16.8 billion JPY in the FY2021 budget for tourism policies including DX and Workcation
The budgetary request of Japan Tourism Agency for FY2021 starting April 1 2021 amounts to 16.8 billion JPY (about $159 million), and another budgets for DX and Workcation promotion will be considered later, depending on the COVID-19 situation.
Japanese guest nights were down 52% YOY in August 2020, not so stimulated by the government’s tourism recovery initiative
The total number of guest nights was down 58.4% year on year to 26.3 million in August 2020 (preliminary report). The monthly result of Japanese guest nights worsened from a 47.9% reduction in July 2020 with no positive effect yet from Go To Travel campaign.
HIS raises $214 million for new hotel developments and system investment through the third-party allocation of shares
HIS, one the largest Japanese travel agents, will raise 22.6 billion JPY (about $214 million) through the third-party allocation of shares in order to accelerate new hotel developments and IT system developments.
Peach Aviation, a Japanese LCC, introduces a Workcation system for its employees
Japanese LCC Peach Aviation introduced a Workcation system for its employees, as one of trials to develop Workcation products for individual travelers or companies in the future.
Domestic travel consumption under the state of emergency declaration in Japan was down 83%
Domestic travel consumption by Japanese travelers was down 83.3% year on year to 1,004 billion JPY in the second quarter of 2020 under the state of emergency declaration, which was lifted on May 25.
ANA launches direct bookings on ‘Google Flight’ through its NDC
On ‘Google Flight,’ ‘Book on Google’ service is now available for ANA customers through NDC platform. No need moving from Google Flight to ANA official website for booking, purchase or even payment.
TripAdvisor survey shows Hakuba, Nagano is the most popular domestic destination among Japanese travelers in this autumn
TripAdvisor survey illustrates that 45% of Japanese travelers plan driving, outdoor or nature travels in this autumn, and among them, the most popular destination is Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture.
New JNTO Vice President talks about what it should do now for restart of inbound travel promotions
Akiko Yoshida, new Executive Senior Vice President at JNTO, talked about what JNTO can do now amid no inbound travel demand. Looking at the future, JNTO helps local communities create higher quality tourism contents.
HIS, one of the largest Japanese travel agents, offers 15 days and 30 days overseas Workcation tours with a flexible cancelation policy
HIS has started selling ‘LIVING TRAVEL’ to meet consumers’ needs of overseas Workcation in Honolulu, Bali, Bangkok, Cairns and Amsterdam departing from Japan after November 2020.
AB-ROAD, the most popular travel magazine for Japanese overseas travelers, will end its long history on March 31 2021
Japanese pioneer travel magazine AB-ROAD will terminate on March 31 2021. The operator Recruit Lifestyle explains that the termination results from recent changes of customers’ needs and business environment.
This year’s Tourism EXPO Japan will be organized in Okinawa in a hybrid format
This year’s Tourism EXPO Japan in Okinawa will be held for four days between October 29 and November 1 2020, organizing both in live and online for business meetings and international conferences amid COVID-19. Next year it will go to Osaka again.
Japanese overseas travelers were down 98.2% to 37,000 in August 2020
Japanese overseas travelers was down 98.2% year on year to 37,100 in August 2020 amid the Infection Warning Level 3 (Do not travel).
