Digital

A package of Tokyo subway all-you-can-ride ticket and tourism attraction admission is now on sale even for residents in Tokyo

A package of Tokyo subway all-you-can-ride ticket and tourism attraction admission is now on sale even for residents in Tokyo

Tokyo Metro and Bureau of Transportation Tokyo Metropolitan Government started selling all-you-can-ride ‘Tokyo Subway Ticket’ and a package with Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree admissions even for residents in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.
Tourism-typed MaaS is tested in Mt. Fuji area to demonstrate payment and transportation by face recognition

Tourism-typed MaaS is tested in Mt. Fuji area to demonstrate payment and transportation by face recognition

Mt.Fuji Area Tourism DX Innovation Consortium including Panasonic begins demonstration tests for ‘free-hand tourism’ in the area by using face recognition digital pass for payments and entries in Fuji Kyuko railway and tourism facilities.
Japanese GenZ tends to use Instagram bookmark for travel destination search and SNS for information gathering

Japanese GenZ tends to use Instagram bookmark for travel destination search and SNS for information gathering

The most used information-gathering tool by Japanese GenZ was SNS (69.8%) in 2021, replacing TV (40.8%) in 2014, and users of mail apps reduced from 64.7% to 42.6%, while users of music and video apps remarkably increased from 39.8% to 70.6%.
One of major travel agencies in Japan tests its original vaccination passport on LINE, the Japanese largest chat app

One of major travel agencies in Japan tests its original vaccination passport on LINE, the Japanese largest chat app

one of major travel agencies in Japan, Developing its original vaccination passport ‘Smart Corona Pass,’ working on LINE, Tobu Top Tours will use it for the government-led vaccination package demonstration program.
Face recognition system is tested to Mt.Fuji climbers for their vaccination or negative certificates and health conditions

Face recognition system is tested to Mt.Fuji climbers for their vaccination or negative certificates and health conditions

Shizuoka Prefecture and NEC will test the face recognition system for about 100 participants in trekking tours to Mt. Fuji to check their registered vaccination or negative certificates on the app.
Japanese OTA Rakuten and Marriott collaborate in loyalty programs to enhance travel experiences in Japan

Japanese OTA Rakuten and Marriott collaborate in loyalty programs to enhance travel experiences in Japan

Rakuten, one of largest OTAs in Japan, and Marriott International signed a strategic partnership to enhance collaboration between Marriott Bonvoy and Rakuten membership program.
Okinawa builds a tourism data platform to deliver more effective information and expand local spending

Okinawa builds a tourism data platform to deliver more effective information and expand local spending

Okinawa Convention &Visitors Bureau (OCVB) and other organizations will build a tourism data platform to visualize data on tourist needs, movements and consumption for effective delivery of tourism information and expansion of tourist spending.
Airbnb Japan gives financial supports for renovation of old folk houses in Tatsuno Town, Nagano Prefecture

Airbnb Japan gives financial supports for renovation of old folk houses in Tatsuno Town, Nagano Prefecture

Airbnb Japan signed a partnership agreement with Tatsuno Town in Nagano Prefecture, in which Airbnb gives financial supports for renovation of old folk houses and trial Workcation.
Rakuten Travel, a Japanese OTA, offers accommodation plans exclusively for vaccinated travelers

Rakuten Travel, a Japanese OTA, offers accommodation plans exclusively for vaccinated travelers

Rakuten Travel opened a special page featuring more than 1,000 lodgings with specific benefits for vaccinated travelers on its booking site.
HIS America launches a sustainable travel booking site to find how much CO2 your travel emits

HIS America launches a sustainable travel booking site to find how much CO2 your travel emits

HIS International Tours, a local firm of HIS in America, has launched ‘Copolo,’ an online booking site exclusively for sustainable travel, in collaboration with CHOOOSE, a startup of Norway.
Klook offers a B2B platform for activity operators in ties up with Google Things to do

Klook offers a B2B platform for activity operators in ties up with Google Things to do

Klook, a Hong Kong-based activity booking platform, has started offering a Google Things to do service for Klook partner activity or attraction operators.
Shizuoka Prefecture organizes an event to control a drone remotely from Singapore to introduce tourism attractions

Shizuoka Prefecture organizes an event to control a drone remotely from Singapore to introduce tourism attractions

Shizuoka Prefecture will organize a virtual event ‘Mt. Fuji Drone Challenge in Asagiri’ for Singaporean to control a drone remotely to experience tourism attractions virtually.
JR East railway company’s NFC card can be used as a digital key for a hotel or an office

JR East railway company’s NFC card can be used as a digital key for a hotel or an office

JR East, a railway company, will serve ‘Suica Smart Lock,' which allows you to use Suica, JE East IC card for payment, as an entrance key for a hotel or an office.
Nihon Unisys links to activity booking ‘Asoview!’ platform to enrich B2B distribution for tourism operators

Nihon Unisys links to activity booking ‘Asoview!’ platform to enrich B2B distribution for tourism operators

Nihon Unisys travel product distribution platform ‘Offer Links’ and ‘asoview! Agent’ platform for travel agents are linked to deal with Asoview! contents not only as affiliate-typed products but also as their original products.
Meta Tourism, a new tourism concept, kicks off  in Japan, visualizing meanings and values of contents on a digital map

Meta Tourism, a new tourism concept, kicks off in Japan, visualizing meanings and values of contents on a digital map

Meta Tourism, a new tourism concept that oversees a variety of content layers for a particular place or a particular phenomenon, has started its activities in earnest, when it held a kick-off event for Sumida Meta Tourism Festival on August 24 2021.
Japan National Tourism Organization will organize an online business meeting for inbound travel in March 2022

Japan National Tourism Organization will organize an online business meeting for inbound travel in March 2022

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) will organize ‘VISIT JAPAN Travel Mart 2021’ for the inbound travel market as a full online event from March 1 to 3 2022, joined by 70 overseas buyers and 70 domestic sellers.
Virtual ‘Japan Culture EXPO’ has opened to deliver Japan’s beauties, offering an avatar function in the future

Virtual ‘Japan Culture EXPO’ has opened to deliver Japan’s beauties, offering an avatar function in the future

Virtual ‘Japan Culture EXPO’ with a main theme of ‘Japanese people and nature’ opened on August 17 2021 to deliver Japan’s beauties in cooperation with museums and events in Japan.
JTB raises 30 billion JPY in total mainly for digital platform developments and creation of new tourism contents

JTB raises 30 billion JPY in total mainly for digital platform developments and creation of new tourism contents

JTB has raised 30 billion JPY in total through the third-party allotment to its main banks and others to develop a digital platform for improvement of customer journeys, more attractive tourism contents in local regions and a B to B digital platform.
The first Henn na Hotel in a foreign country opens in Seoul on August 1, offering a check-in service outside the hotel

The first Henn na Hotel in a foreign country opens in Seoul on August 1, offering a check-in service outside the hotel

HIS Holdings opened ‘Henn na Hotel Seoul Myeongdong,’ the first Henn na Hotel brand in a foreign country, on August 1 2021, available an exclusive app, a guest can check in anywhere outside the hotel.
Internet searches of ‘travel’ drastically decreased as of June 2021 in Japan, particularly among 50s or older

Internet searches of ‘travel’ drastically decreased as of June 2021 in Japan, particularly among 50s or older

Values' survey shows that Internet searches of ‘travel’ halved as of June 2021, compared to June in both 2019 and 2020. Searches by 20s increased and accounted for 30% of the total, while those by 50s or older decreased.