Japan National Tourism Organization concludes ‘Visit Japan Trade Seminar’ in Mumbai

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai 22 February 2016: Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) successfully concluded the ‘Visit Japan Trade Seminar’. The JNTO delegation comprised Mr Hideki Manabe – Executive Director, JNTO Singapore Office, Mr Daisuke Kobayashi- Director, JNTO Singapore Office and Mr Takeshi Komura- Senior Assistant Manager, JNTO Tokyo Office. Partners from Japan included All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (ANA), DMC Japan by KNT, Oicee Japan, Ayabex Inc, Wakayama Prefecture and Princess Cruises & Masala Tours from their India offices.

The seminar proved to be a great platform for the delegation from Japan as they got an opportunity to interact with over 120 Travel Trade partners and present their latest offerings to them. Their objective was not only to understand the changing trends in the Indian market but also to update travel agents with new trends and products in Japan. The seminar began with a Welcome address by Mr Hideki Manabe- Executive Director, JNTO Singapore Office, which was followed by a Key Note address by Mr Yoshiaki Ito, Consul General, Consulate General of Japan in Mumbai.

Next were a series of presentations by JNTO’s partners including DMC Japan by KNT, Oicee Japan, All Nippon Airways, Wakayama Prefecture and Masala Tours, followed by a speech on Japan by Mr Toshihiro Yamakoshi, Counselor, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi and presentations by Princess Cruises- ‘A new voyage to Japan’ and Mr Mayank Kumar- Editor,Happytrips.com on ‘Destination Japan Experience with Indian perspective’. According to Mr Hideki Manabe, “Visit Japan Trade Seminar is a significant platform to bring together travel trade partners and give them the opportunity to showcase our products.  Through our constant engagement programs with travel trade partners, our endeavor is to highlight Japan as a destination which offers unique diversity in terms of experiences and activities to Indian travelers.” The year 2015 has been a great year for Japan tourism as it crossed the 100,000 mark for visitor arrivals from India. During this period, Japan welcomed 103,200 visitors from India, observing the growth of 17.3% and 19,737,400 tourists from all over the world with a growth of about 47% vis-a-vis 2014.

About Japan National Tourism Organization

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) was established in the year 1964 with the purpose to further international exchange through tourism. JNTO is involved in a broad range of activities promoting travel to Japan through various activities overseas as well as tourism-promoting activities in Japan. The activities include operating Tourist Information Centers in Japan for foreign visitors, arranging reception facilities for foreign visitors, promoting international conventions and trade fairs, conducting tourism-related research and publishing travel literature & videos on destination Japan.

JNTO maintains 14 offices in key cities around the world, through which a wide range of tourism-related promotions are carried out. Each overseas office is responsible for promoting travel and tourism to Japan; one of the most important functions is to help the travel industry encourage their clients to visit Japan. The activities of the overseas JNTO offices include providing up-to-date information on travel to and in Japan, participating in local travel fairs and exhibitions, assisting in developing tours to Japan, supplying free brochures to the travel industry, lending display materials, prize-winning films and video tapes for travel professionals to show to their clients.