Digital

ANA accelerates to upgrade ANA app to a super app, firstly installing mini apps for payment and booking

ANA accelerates to upgrade ANA app to a super app, firstly installing mini apps for payment and booking

ANA is revamping ‘ANA Mileage Club App’ to a super app by installing mini apps for a variety of daily life services, accelerating it to 'super app' with a concept of ‘living with miles.’
JR East, a Japanese railway company, sells NFT station name signs, celebrating the 150th anniversary

JR East, a Japanese railway company, sells NFT station name signs, celebrating the 150th anniversary

JR East, a Japanese railway company covering eastern Japan, has begun selling NFT (non-fungible token) ) station name signs, celebrating the 150th anniversary of birth of the Japan’s first railway.
Universal Studios Japan introduces Alipay+ in the park and seeks a chance to collaborate with Fliggy

Universal Studios Japan introduces Alipay+ in the park and seeks a chance to collaborate with Fliggy

Universal Studios Japan (USJ) and Ant Group signed a corporate marketing partnership contract to introduce Alipay+ payment service in the park, expecting that the partnership will raise payment conveniences for visitors to Japan from Asia.
Travel-related online shopping by Japanese households in July 2022 increased by 2.4 times year on year

Travel-related online shopping by Japanese households in July 2022 increased by 2.4 times year on year

Online shopping spending a Japanese household in July 2022 was up 20.4% year on year to 21,940 JPY a month, and travel-related spending was up 2.4 times to 3,595 JYP a household.
A Japanese startup releases a new service to automatize recouping of cancellation fees for hotels or restaurants

A Japanese startup releases a new service to automatize recouping of cancellation fees for hotels or restaurants

Payn, a Japanese startup, has released bata ‘Payn’ to automatize a billing service for hotels or restaurants which have troubles with recouping cancellation fees, financing 90 million JPY from two investors.
Passport renewal in Japan will be made possible online on March 27 2023

Passport renewal in Japan will be made possible online on March 27 2023

Passport renewal in Japan will be made possible online on March 27 2023. A Japanese passport holder will no longer visit an application window for passport renewal procedure.
Searches for travel in Japan on OTA have been growing since lifting of the remaining inbound travel restrictions was announced

Searches for travel in Japan on OTA have been growing since lifting of the remaining inbound travel restrictions was announced

Searches for travel in Japan on major OTAs have been growing since the Japanese government announced the remaining travel restrictions on foreigners would be lifted on October 11 2022.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card, a leading credit card of Japan, visualizes travelers’ cashless payment data on Tourism Forecast Platform

Sumitomo Mitsui Card, a leading credit card of Japan, visualizes travelers’ cashless payment data on Tourism Forecast Platform

Sumitomo Mitsui Card, a leading credit card of Japan, will begin providing its cashless payment data to Tourism Forecast Platform, enabling users to analyze consumption behaviors of domestic and foreign travelers.
HIS invests to a tourism-oriented digital currency/NFT startup to expand its Web 3.0 business space

HIS invests to a tourism-oriented digital currency/NFT startup to expand its Web 3.0 business space

HIS has acquired shares of Rural, a startup to provide tourism-oriented digital currency ‘Rural Coin’ and ‘Rural NFT' to accelerate its new business in a Web 3.0 space.
Tiqets in Europe and Klook in Asia become partners to connect their supply channels for in-destination activity bookings

Tiqets in Europe and Klook in Asia become partners to connect their supply channels for in-destination activity bookings

Amsterdam-based Tiqets and Hong Kong-based Klook made a strategic partnership to connect their supply channels. Each of the brands aims to raise awareness in the partner's market.
Japan National Tourism Organization develops AR experiences of the famous summer festival in Japan for Singapore

Japan National Tourism Organization develops AR experiences of the famous summer festival in Japan for Singapore

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has launched a digital promotion using the AR technology in Singapore, in which a user can enjoy virtual experience of the famous summer festival ‘Nebuta’ in Aomori Prefecture on a smartphone.
A Japanese leading travel firm welcomed 1.3 million visitors a month in its metaverse shop

A Japanese leading travel firm welcomed 1.3 million visitors a month in its metaverse shop

HIS, a Japanese leading travel firm, welcomed 1.3 million or more visitors in its virtual shop ‘HIS Travel World,’ which was launched in a smartphone metaverse space ‘REALITY World.'
Why does Agoda invest a large scale of budget into the Japan market?A leader in Japan talks about its strategies

Why does Agoda invest a large scale of budget into the Japan market?A leader in Japan talks about its strategies

Singapore-based OTA Agoda has been raising its presence in the Japan market. A leader of the OTA in Japan talked about its unique strategies both for domestic travel and for inbound travel.
More Japanese travelers see video sharing sites and SNS as travel information sources

More Japanese travelers see video sharing sites and SNS as travel information sources

The most popular travel-related website as of June 2022 was jalan.net, followed by Rakuten Travel and JAL. All of the top 10 sites increased unique users compared to a year ago,.Users of video sharing sites and SNS as travel information sources increased even compared to 2019.
How do young Japanese people choose their travels this summer ?

How do young Japanese people choose their travels this summer ?

Rakuten survey finds that the most-preferred accommodation cost is ‘8,000 to 10,000 JPY’ a night with the ratio of 23% this summer among Japanese young generation. The most-selected information source is ‘Instagram’ with the ratio of 62.8%,
An online travel and experience gift service is launched by the leading travel company of Japan

An online travel and experience gift service is launched by the leading travel company of Japan

JTB has launched a social gift service ‘JTB Koto Collection,’ on which a user give travel and local experience plans as gifts on SNS or e-mail.
Users on top 5 Japanese OTAs increased by 1.5 times in Q1 of FY2022 year on year

Users on top 5 Japanese OTAs increased by 1.5 times in Q1 of FY2022 year on year

All of top 5 Japanese OTAs increased by 1.5 times or more in the first quarter of FY2022 (April to June) compared to a year ago. Top OTA was jalan.net with 13.7 million users increasing by 71%.
A Japanese traditional travel agent ties up with OTA to sell individual overseas travel reciprocally

A Japanese traditional travel agent ties up with OTA to sell individual overseas travel reciprocally

Hankyu Travel International, a Japanese traditional travel agent, signed a business partnership agreement with AirTrip, a Japanese OTA, to sell overseas travel products for individual travelers reciprocally.
HIS launches ‘Web 3.0 Virtual Project,’ expecting to offer new NFT or Metaverse experiences

HIS launches ‘Web 3.0 Virtual Project,’ expecting to offer new NFT or Metaverse experiences

HIS, one of the biggest travel companies in Japan, will launch ‘Web 3.0 Virtual Project’ to offer NFT and metaverse services in a travel space and produce its original virtual liver of 2D or 3D avatars as a new advertising characters.
Fliggy, Alibaba’s OTA, ties up with Japanese OTA ‘AirTrip’ to book accommodations in Japan for Chinese travelers

Fliggy, Alibaba’s OTA, ties up with Japanese OTA ‘AirTrip’ to book accommodations in Japan for Chinese travelers

Fliggy, a travel service platform of Alibaba Group, has tied up with Japanese OTA ‘AirTrip.' More than 20,000 lists on AirTrip will be provided to more than 300 million Fliggy members in China.