The Japan Tourism Association, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) have announced that they will hold Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 at the Aichi Sky Expo in Aichi Prefecture for four days from September 25th to 28th, 2025.
JATA Chairman Hiroyuki Takahashi revealed that the EXPO, which will be the first of its kind in Aichi, will have three themes: “Dispersing inbound tourists to local areas,” “Long-term support for promoting tourism in the Hokuriku region, which was hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake,” and “Expanding the international network from Centrair Airport.”
The Chubu and Hokuriku regions are cooperating to promote tourism, and business organizations from both regions hope that the Expo will be a great opportunity to boost inbound tourism from Centrair to the Hokuriku region, leading to a speedy recovery from the damage caused by the earthquake.
(From left) JATA Chairman Takahashi, Miyamoto of the Chubu Economic Federation, Makino of the Hokuriku Economic Federation, and Sakakibara Jin, Managing Director of the Aichi Tourism Association.
Will Tourism EXPO Japan 2024 be a chance to revive international travel?
Tourism EXPO Japan 2024 will open on September 26, 2024 at Tokyo Big Sight under the theme of “Travel, New Values Await.” As of now, 80 countries and regions will be exhibiting, up from last year’s 70. Takahashi said, “This will be an opportunity to spread the word about the recovery of Japan’s travel market to the world,” and added, “The increase in exhibitors from overseas countries and regions is a sign of expectations for the Japanese market. We hope that this will be an important step toward the recovery of the overseas travel market, which is due to fully recover next year.”
Organizers expect there to be more than 7,000 business meetings, up from last year’s 5,768, and that the number of visitors is expected to reach approximately 180,000 over the four days, surpassing the 148,000 that was recorded in Osaka last year.
In the keynote speeches, Eduardo Santander, CEO of the European Tourism Commission, Eijiro Yamakita, CEO of JTB, and two other regional representatives from Japan will speak about expanding tourism exchanges.
The TEJ Tourism Ministers’ Meeting will bring together Tourism Ministers from 10-15 countries, UN Tourism, World Travel and Tourism Council, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA).
In addition, various tourism professional seminars will be held for the domestic, inbound and outbound markets. The 8th Japan Tourism Awards will honour organisations, companies and individuals in recognition of their contributions to tourism development.
(From left) Japan Tourism Association’s Best Chairman, JATA Chairman Takahashi, and JNTO Vice Chairman Takahashi.
Expanding the domestic travel fair
The domestic travel exhibit will also be expanded to include “dark sky tourism,” “driving tourism,” “adventure tourism,” “academy tourism,” “cruise tourism,” “theme tourism,” “sports tourism,” etc. Akihito Nishi, chairman of the Japan Tourism Association, said, “We hope to create high-value travel opportunities at the expo and attract more visitors to regional areas.”
In addition, special exhibitions will be held on themes such as the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, tourism in the Hokuriku region, and the 60th anniversary of the liberalization of overseas travel.
Inbound buyers, come to Japan Travel & MICE Mart
JNTO is hosting the “Visit Japan Travel & MICE Mart” event, which will see the participation of 280 overseas buyers (including 15 MICE buyers) and 300 domestic sellers. A total of more than 6,000 business meetings are expected.
After the mart, about 250 overseas buyers will take part in 12 FAM tours in eastern Japan. JNTO will partner with Tourism EXPO Japan to enable overseas buyers to gather tourism information from domestic travel exhibitors.
