Digital

KNT-CT and NTA provide travel planning and sharing app 'Holiday' users with professional consultations on the platform, expecting to strengthen touch points with young generations.

According to Adobe report on digital economy trends in Japan market, Japanese visitors to online retail shops were up 19%, and a total of order amount was also up 15%. The conversion rate, however, was down 16%.

Kobe Tourism Bureau launched QR-based ‘KOBE Tourism Smart Passport,' which allows a traveler to visit all of up to 46 tourist spots in Kobe City including Kobe Port or Arima Onsen.

Membership hotels Tokyu Harvest Club places SmartPlates in guest rooms to enables a hotel to get hotel or neighboring information on its own smart phone through Harvest Smart Guide.

'Tour Grand Prix 2021,’ which was the 28th Grand Prix for the first time in two years, picked ‘Land Cruise JTB,’ a seat-in-couch tour product in Europe, as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award and four online tours were selected as digital category for overseas travel.

Travel DX, a VR-based travel experience provider, sells 360-degree camera ‘VRTrip for a group,’ supposing companies, shopping malls or schools as potential customers.

‘The Responsible Traveler,’ a series of manners eduction movies produced by Dentsu Tech for Japan Tourism Agency, featuring humorous performances by five Samurai and Karate Masters, won Intermedia-globe Gold for 2021 World Media Festival.

ANA began testing IATA Travel Pass on the Haneda-New York and Haneda-Honolulu, joined by volunteer passengers, on May 24, expecting that the digital health accreditation app will be a trump card for restart of international travel.

Vertra, a Japanese in-destination experience booking service, has launched tourism-specific crowd funding to provide tourism operators with marketing opportunities in preparation for demand growth after COVID-19.

ANA will establish a new company ‘ANA NEO’ to develop and operate a virtual travel platform ‘SKY WHALE,' which consists of ‘Sky Park,’ ‘Sky Mall’ and Sky Village’ services, taking advantage of avatar robot ‘newme’ developed by ANA Group venture company avatatin.

Many tourist destinations, including foreign tourism boards, have offered online travel contents you can feel like going out at home during a week-long Golden Week holiday period.

ANA and four ground transportation companies in Osaka offer a reasonable packaged ticket called ‘Osaka Aozora Kiipu’ for ANA flight users on ANA Airport Access Navi to receive a packaged transportation ticket at Itami Airport at once.

Haneda Airport has started demonstrating 'Face Express,' a face recognition boarding system, for international flight passengers in preparation for full operation in July this year. Face Express registration is completed in one minute or shorter.

JAL and the Commons Project confirmed that a PCR test result on digital health passport ‘CommonPass’ was perfectly accepted at Narita Airport in departure and Singapore Changi Airport in arrival.

JTB will build ‘Virtual Japan Platform’ to offer a variety of Japan's experience contents on a virtual space including e-commerce, together with Fun Japan Communications and FIXER, having an initial goal of 10 million active users by 2024.

HIS will open unstaffed stores to provide online travel consultation in ‘Aeon Mall’ in Hokkaido and Aomori, using VR technology of Nurve.

ANA and The Commons Project demonstrated digital health accreditation ‘CommonPass’ on the NH10 flight from Haneda on March 29 in cooperation with two Japanese volunteers. This was the first CommonPass trial by a Japanese airline, followed by JAL on April 2.

Narita and Haneda airports will start testing face recognition boarding procedures ‘Face Express’ on April 13 2021, using the NEC biometric identification technology.

JAL and Uber have agreed to a strategic partnership to use the Uber ride-sharing service and food delivery service in North America and Hawaii on JAL app.

ANA Group will kick into gear to establish a Milage-based Ecosystem on its developing super app, launching ‘ANA X’ as a platform business company and ‘ANA Aknido’ as a local revitalization business company.