Travel Sectors

Haneda Airport will begin serving an automatic driving mobility from a parking space to a departure gate, using the WHILL single-passenger vehicle, which can be retuned to a parking space automatically without manned operation.

JTB launches a new business to support companies or schools for workplace COVID-19 vaccination, serving selection of a venue, dispatch of doctors or nurses, schedule management and layout arrangement in a venue.

The tourism industry is far behind other industries in terms of the number of companies taking measures for SDGs. The ratio is 20.3%, according to the joint survey by Rikkyo University and JTB Tourism Research & Consulting. Major challenges are shortage of human resources, times and budgets.

ANA and Peach Aviation, an ANA subsidiary LCC, will begin code-shared flights on Paech’s operating domestic Narita and Chubu (Nagoya) routes in late August 2021.

Fun Group, a Japanese overseas in-destination tour provider, has begun selling vaccination support package tours in Las Vegas and San Francisco. The price is 58,800 JPY .

AIRDO, an airline for Hokkaido, and Solaseed Air, an airline for Kyushu, signed an agreement to establish a holding company in October 2022 to recover financial bases damaged by the pandemic and provide customers with value-added services and products for sustainable growth.

Sales of 46 major travel companies reduced by 78.4% year on year to 999.7 billion JPY in total in FY2020, reducing overseas travel by 97.7% to 42.5 billion JPY and inbound travel by 96% to 9.1 million JPY respectively amid the pandemic.

JR Kyushu, a railway company covering Kyushu area, will operate ‘Share Office Shinkansen’ from June 14 and 30 this year except weekend, preparing the designated car without reserved-seats.

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.

JTB posted the record-high net loss of 105.2 billion JPY for FY2020, deadly hit by the pandemic, but it has expected to move back into the black for FY2021, anticipating recovery of travel demands and acceleration of the cost cut efforts.

Heisei Enterprise, a Japanese sightseeing bus operator, will launch a campaign to pay 1,000 JPY back to a completely vaccinated traveler.

Ten Marriott group hotels in Japan, including The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo or W Osaka, have begun selling ‘to-go’ menus of their restaurants.

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.

The ratio of accommodation operators suffering a 70% or more decrease in bookings over 2019 was 42.3% in January, 43% in February, 31% in March, 42.3% in April and 47.2% in May, according to Japan Tourism Agency's survey.

JR East, a railway company covering eastern Japan, is extending its sharing office service ‘STATION WORK’ network, adding personal working space ‘STATION BOOTH’ in a government building.

Prince Hotel will sell a PCR test-packaged plan in the limited period between May 21 and July 21 2021, offering a special coupon for hotel facilities to a negative guest.

KNT-CT will issue preferred share to its parent company Kintetsu Group Holdings and others to raise 40 billion JPY in total to avoid excessive debt, posting net loss of 14.8 billion JPY for FY2021.

New World La Plume Niseko Resort will open in Niseko, Hokkaido in 2023, managed by New World Hotels & Resorts, providing 224 rooms and suites with kitchens and outdoor baths for long-stay guests.

JAL has drawn up a new FY2021-FY2025 medium-term management plan to restore EBIT to 170 billion JPY in FY2023 and to about 185 billion JPY in FY2025, primarily focusing on Business Strategy, Finance Strategy and ESG Strategy.