ブラック ジャック やり方 カジノnd Hospitality
Attractive Markets

Against the backdrop of the government promoting digital transformation and the recovery of the tourism industry, there is increasing attention on the travel tech market (using the latest IT technology to reduce the hassle and ensure a seamless experience for travelers) ³⁴. Among these, the online travel agent (OTA) market is particularly significant.

In FY 2022, the domestic market size for consumer e-commerce in the travel services sector reached 15.54 billion USD * (2.4 trillion JPY) (68.0% more than the previous year).³⁵ In addition, 85% of foreign tourists arrange round-trip air and ship tickets and accommodation on their own, and 78% book tour services and round-trip air and passage tickets through the website.³⁶ As personal travel arrangements through websites become mainstream, OTAs will increase their presence.

Moreover, in the OTA market, there are various examples of collaboration between foreign companies and Japanese companies, including collaboration between overseas OTA and Japanese local governments and destination management organizations (DMOs), as well as between companies (Figure 8). As the number of online travel arrangements increases, services incorporating various industries and target groups are being developed, such as offering attractions, as well as booking and payment services for airlines, restaurants, hotels, and taxis to foreign tourists. The demand for OTA services is expected to continue to meet various needs and interests. Many Japanese companies are likely to seek collaboration with overseas companies, making this a promising opportunity for foreign companies as well.

Also, as sustainable tourism in regional areas is becoming more important, there is a trend to address the challenges faced by the regional tourism industry through travel tech.

For example, Tourism MaaS (a service that optimally combines multiple public transportations and other transportation services in response to the needs of travelers and uses ICT to conduct search, reservation, payment, etc, in a single operation) is gaining attention as a solution to accessibility issues in regional areas. The introduction of Tourism MaaS apps and projects is expanding in rural areas such as Izu City in Shizuoka Prefecture, Nagasaki City in Nagasaki Prefecture, and Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture.³⁸ There are examples of foreign companies entering the Japanese MaaS market, such as SWAT Mobility (Singapore), which operates a ridesharing app and is conducting demonstration tests in various parts of Japan.³⁹

Additionally, as collaborations aimed at utilizing big data are evident, business opportunities for companies providing data platforms are expanding. Taiwan established Vpon JAPAN (Japan), which maintains big data in the Asian region mainly in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, and TakeMe (Japan), which provides cross-border payments (cross-border QR code payments), collaborated to develop marketing services using big data.⁴⁰ X-Locations (Japan), which develops platforms utilizing location information, offers services that support the attraction of foreign visitors by leveraging human mobility data from Near Intelligence (U.S).⁴¹ Asoview (Japan), which provides a reservation management system and electronic ticketing services for leisure facilities, has partnered with KlooK (Hong Kong), which operates a travel and experience platform in more than 180 countries, to help domestic leisure and tourism businesses attract tourists.⁴²

Travel tech can be used widely, including reservation and sale of travel services such as airline tickets, hotels, and restaurants, providing highly convenient mobility for tourists, and developing promotion and reservation systems for tourist destinations, restaurants, and leisure facilities using data. It is anticipated that through government initiatives, tourists' countries/regions of origin, destinations, and purposes will be diversified, and digital transformation will be introduced. As a result, the travel tech market is going to attract increasing attention.

Although the prevalence of cashless payments in Japan is not as high as in other countries, the increasing growth rate and efforts to expand these payment methods indicate strong potential for future adoption. Especially overseas companies are making a strong presence in cashless payment services for visitors to Japan, who expect the same level of payment services as their home countries and regions.

The cashless payment amount and the cashless payment ratio in final expenditures in Japan have been increasing annually, almost doubling from about 20% in 2016 to 39.3% in 2023 (Figure 9). While the ratio of cashless payments has slowed in countries where it is already widespread, such as China and South Korea, the ratio continues to rise in Japan⁴³, and this suggests that as the cashless payment market expands, numerous business opportunities will emerge.

As for the tourism industry, foreign companies are expected to enter the market and expand cashless services for foreign tourists.

The cashless payment ratio accounts for more than 50% in many countries and regions, including Taiwan, China, South Korea, U.S, Hong Kong, and Australia, which represents major inbound consumption by foreign visitors.⁴⁵ Therefore, Japan, where cashless payments are still in the process of becoming widespread, seems to be being unable to fully respond to the needs of the visitors, who wish to use cashless payments as they do in their home countries or regions, potentially missing out on capturing significant inbound consumption.

To address these issues, Japanese companies providing cashless payment services and solutions are forming partnerships/collaborations with overseas companies. NETSTARS (Japan), which operates StarPay, a multi-cashless payment solution, has collaborated with QR code payment brands in 13 countries and regions, mainly in Asia and Europe.⁴⁶ PayPay (Japan), a provider of QR code payment services, has collaborated with 18 QR code payment brands in a total of 10 countries and regions to strengthen inbound support.⁴⁷ These payment services are highly convenient for both foreign visitors and business operators and are expected to develop as services to respond to increasing inbound tourism. As the cashless payments ratio in Japan increases and businesses providing cashless payment solutions expand, it is anticipated that further collaboration between overseas and Japanese companies will be needed.

With the increase in the number of tourists, the hotel market is expanding again. Currently, the domestic hotel industry is attracting a lot of attention from overseas companies, and especially foreign luxury hotels targeting foreign visitors are making significant advances.

As of Oct. 2023, over 60% of Japan's ryokan (traditional inns) and hotels are expecting increased revenue, with 97% of all ryokan and hotels experiencing either revenue growth or stable revenue. In FY 2023, the ryokan and hotel market size on operators basis is projected to reach around 33.03 billion USD * (5 trillion JPY), which is nearly at the same level as the pre-COVID level of 32.11 billion USD * (4.9 trillion JPY) in 2019. (Figure 10).

As the number of foreign visitors is increasing, overseas companies are investing in the Japanese hotel market. Especially, there are many overseas 5-star and resort hotels entering the Japanese market. Examples of foreign luxury hotel openings in recent years include JLL (U.S, scheduled to open in Tokyo in 2025)⁴⁹, Capella Hotel Group (Singapore, scheduled to open in Kyoto and Osaka in 2025)⁵⁰, Centara Grand Hotel (Thailand, opened in Osaka in 2023)⁵¹, Marriott International (U.S, gradually opening in 8 prefectures since 2022)⁵², and Accor (France, scheduled to open 23 resort hotels in Japan in 2024).⁵³

Amid increasing demand for regional tourism, driven by government initiatives and growing interest from repeat visitors, some foreign luxury hotel companies are expanding beyond Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Marriott (U.S) opened The Ritz-Carlton Fukuoka (Fukuoka)⁵⁴ and Sheraton Kagoshima (Kagoshima)⁵⁵ in 2023, and Nagasaki Marriott Hotel (Nagasaki) in 2024⁵⁶, with plans to open another in Tottori in 2026.⁵⁷ Hyatt (U.S) also plans to open a hotel in Sapporo in 2026.⁵⁸

These internationally recognized foreign hotels are primarily targeting foreign visitors and high-income groups.⁵⁹ Furthermore, looking at inbound travel consumption by expense category, about 35%, or 12.12 billion USD * (1.8 trillion JPY), was spent on accommodation. The share of accommodation expenses is the highest, and it is higher than the pre-COVID-19 level⁶⁰, which shows that foreign hotels have been significantly benefiting from the increase in foreign visitors.

Thus, it is anticipated that demand in the hotel market will increase in response to an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan, leading to the development of the hotel business nationwide, including in regional areas, especially by foreign-affiliated companies operating luxury hotels.