TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Fukui Prefectural Tourism Federation, having acquired Category-two travel license on July 15, set up a travel section called “Tour 291 (Fukui)” to sell Fukui-bound domestic tours. According to the account given by the Federation, it obtained Category-two, not Category-three, because it wanted to incorporate into package tours whatever tourism resources available all over the prefecture; otherwise, with Category-three, it is allowed to operate the tours only in limited areas. As soon as the tour products are lined up, it will embark on sales activities by proposing specific plans to consumers who are interested in a trip to Fukui.

To start with, it will publicize 11 tours with departures in September through November, aiming to collect over 500 travelers altogether. Many of them are day-trips operated on weekends and holidays to feature places that are little known hitherto to the public or places not easy to visit in traffic for FIT. Travel themes vary; there are historical tours to do Buddhism pilgrimage and visit Eiheiji Temple and Asakura-clan’s monuments, or gourmet tours in search of longevity, or hands-on tours to experience traditional Echizen paper making and lacquer ware manufacturing. Those tours are attended by local volunteer guides to convey original local flavor.

Sales promotion will start in the neighboring prefectures like Ishikawa, Gifu, and Aichi, says the Federation. In the meantime, it will talk to as many travel agencies as possible so that they display the tour brochures at their store shelves.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

The financial results of Rakuten Travel for the second quarter (January 1 – June 30, 2010) turned an operating profit of 4,110 million yen, up 15.6 percent from last year, on revenue of 10,197 million yen, up 21.2 percent. The growth is attributable to a wider range of merchandise following the broader collaboration with East Japan Railway Company (JR-East) and accelerated demand of business trip reflecting the economic recovery. Gross sales in retail terms soared 22.4 percent to 172.6 billion yen, and the number of nights booked for accommodation rose 13.3 percent over last year. At the press interview held on August 5, Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman and CEO of Rakuten Inc., was quoted as saying, “Strong leisure demand worked for our good performance.”

On a quarterly basis from April to June, gross sales were up 20.6 percent to 9,080 million yen with 8.3 million nights booked for accommodation, up 13.1 percent. Actual revenue was 5,322 million yen, up 23.5 percent while operating profit was 2,040 million yen, up 17.1 percent. What is worth mentioning is that group bookings named “Ride-share” made a remarkable growth benefiting from the Twitter and the Facebook to attain half a billion yen a month in gross sales. Mikitani says this model is setting a new trend and that its monthly gross sales will reach somewhere around one billion yen by the end of this year.

Masashi Okatake, president of Rakuten Travel, disclosed that they will handle sooner or later international trips originating in foreign countries and bound for some other countries, like trips to Guam made by Chinese or Koreans, for example. They are in the process of establishing a new website for this purpose, and will soon start negotiation with hotels at the destinations for necessary arrangements.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

TripAdvisor recently announced a ranking of “Popular Japanese Hotels and Inns 2010 voted by Japanese and Non-Japanese Travelers.” None of top 10 hotels and inns selected by Japanese travelers matches with those voted by non-Japanese travelers, showed the survey.

The Busena Terrace in Okinawa tops the list among Japanese travelers. Listed in the top 10 are five luxury resort hotels in Okinawa including Hotel Nikko Alivila Yomitan Resort Okinawa (ranked second) and Club Med Kabira Beach (fourth). Resort-style hotels such as Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (ranked third) and La Vista Hakodate Bay Hotel (fifth) entered also the top 10, attracting Japanese travelers. On the other hand, among non-Japanese travelers, The Peninsula Tokyo heads the ranking, followed by Park Hyatt Tokyo. The top 10 hotels include seven hotels in Tokyo, five of which are luxury hotels of foreign-owned chain operation.

TripAdvisor also unveiled a ranking of “Japanese Inns (Ryokan) and other accommodations.” Seni Onsen Iwanoyu, a prominent Japanese inn and hot spring off the beaten track in Susaka, Nagano Prefecture, is voted best by Japanese travelers. Those in the top 10 are all Japanese inns well known for their popular hot springs. Among non-Japanese travelers, on the other hand, Capsule Ryokan Kyoto ranked first. Small and reasonably priced family-run Ryokans and guest houses seem to have attracted non-Japanese travelers.

Based on overall rating and guests’ personal comments on hotels and inns in Japan which were posted on its website during the period from July 2009 to June 2010, TripAdvisor analyzed and compiled the views for a release of the ranking.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.