Countries, Regions Use Osaka-Kansai Expo to Attract Japanese Tourists; Japanese Tourism Overseas Slow to Recover Due to Weak Yen, High Prices
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Poutine is seen at a cafe in the Canada Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
Countries and regions participating in the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo are using the event as an opportunity to actively attract Japanese tourists.
The number of Japanese people traveling overseas has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the weak yen and high prices have slowed recovery.
However, exhibitors are working to attract Japanese tourists to their countries or regions through such efforts as offering local dishes.
The Canada Pavilion opened a cafe operated in cooperation with Air Canada, the country's leading airline company. The cafe's signature dish is poutine, which is fries covered with cheese and gravy, and is populra in Canada. Visitors can also watch videos highlighting the country's tourist destinations.
'We'd like to use the Expo as an opportunity to increase the number of visitors to Canada,' said Kiyo Weiss, director of Regional and Premium Sales, Asia Pacific for Air Canada. 'We hope to increase people's interest in Canada through food and let them know that they can visit the country with Air Canada.'
The Turkey's Pavilion is trying to attract tourists to the country by creating brochures introducing the Gobekli Tepe, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and displaying the latest model of business class seats for the country's airline.
About 130,000 Japanese tourists visited the country in 2024, according to the Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency. The agency's official said the country is aiming to eventually attract 500,000 to 1 million Japanese travelers.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), about 13 million Japanese people traveled overseas in 2024, less than 70% of the figure in 2019, a year before the pandemic.
In addition, as of the end of 2024, only 17.5% of the population in Japan had a passport. The figure is 6 percentage points below that of five years ago, a sharp contrast to the increasing number of inbound tourists.
Those in the Japanese tourism industry expressed their concerns about the situation.
'Unless more Japanese people travel overseas, airline companies will find it difficult to increase the number of flights to and from Japan, and the number of inbound tourists will eventually plateau,' said a JNTO official.
Those in the travel industry in Japan are holding meetings with their foreign counterparts during the Expo to discuss ways to increase the number of Japanese tourists.
Now that summer vacation is approaching, Expo exhibitors hope to cash in on the event to increase the number of Japanese tourists to their countries or regions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
39 minutes ago
- Nikkei Asia
Top Japan power provider JERA to triple LNG imports from US
TOKYO -- Japanese energy importer JERA will expand purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas under deals announced Thursday, helping to triple the company's supply of American LNG. JERA agreed to buy up to 3.5 million metric tons of LNG a year from three U.S. suppliers. This is in additional to a deal made last month to purchase 2 million tons of LNG from NextDecade's Rio Grande development in Texas.
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Japan's share buybacks expand at record pace, reaching $80bn so far
TOKYO -- Share buybacks announced by listed Japanese companies are rapidly expanding so far this year, Nikkei has found, signaling that corporations are rushing to improve returns to shareholders despite concerns that trade pressures will reduce profits. The ceiling for buybacks set between January and May stood at 12.1 trillion yen ($83.5 billion), a 20% increase on the year and a record for the five-month period.
SoraNews24
4 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Mr. Sato orders a box of hot coffee from Starbucks Japan to our office
Ever felt like a Venti was just too small? This is over three times the size. Do you ever find yourself sitting home feeling hungry or thirsty, and despite having a house full of food, you don't really feel like having any of it? You contemplate going out for a drink or bite to eat, but then remember that it can be a little pricey. This is a situation that our Japanese-language reporter Mr. Sato found himself in recently; he was craving Starbucks coffee, yet couldn't be bothered to go out and buy it. After considering it for a while, he came up with a brilliant idea: why not try out the coffee pot service? Way back in 2018, another of our reporters, K. Masami, wrote an article about this ingenious service where you could order an entire pot containing about 2.2 liters (77 fluid ounces) of coffee—that's roughly 10 Shorts. The great thing about this service is that, on top of the coffee pot, you get paper cups, portioned milk, and sugar, which makes it perfect for small meetings or gatherings. If you contact the store you're ordering from in advance, either in person or by phone, you can customize it a little further, by choosing your beans, requesting whether it's hot or cold, or asking for larger amounts. They will even arrange to have the coffee pot returned after you're done with it. As Mr. Sato researched it further, he stumbled across something even more intriguing: the Coffee Traveler. According to the website, you can get about 12 Short-sized cups out of it, and there's no need to return it. The customization options for the Coffee Pot Service are applicable for the Coffee Traveler too. For a self-proclaimed lazy person such as Mr. Sato, not having to deal with the hassle of waiting around for the delivery person to come back to collect the coffee pot was a bonus. Plus, with more coffee, he could fulfill his role as a senior member of staff and treat his coworkers to some hot drinks. The total cost of the coffee was 4,550 yen (US$31.78) which, when you break it down, works out to be about 379 yen per cup. At the store, a Short can cost you at least 380 yen, meaning that you technically save about one yen per cup. Of course, being a delivery, the costs don't end there as there's a delivery surcharge of 219 yen, as well as a separate service fee of 360 yen. Although, if you consider the fact you don't have to go out, an extra 579 yen isn't so bad. Placing the order at Yotsuya 3-Chome, the nearest store to our office in Shinjuku, the coffee was set to arrive 25–35 minutes later. After around half an hour, the delivery person called Mr. Sato's phone to let him know that he was at the front door. The coffee had arrived safely! Mr. Sato was keen to see exactly what a non-returnable coffee pot looked like with his own eyes. It seems that the coffee is inside the cardboard box. Here it is: the Coffee Traveler! It traveled all the way from the store to the office: not far by any means, but a travel nonetheless. Will it be as delicious as it is in-store? In addition to the coffee, there were enough paper cups, napkins, milk portions, sugar, and stir sticks for twelve people — perfect for a small gathering. Now it was time to enjoy the long-awaited coffee. But wait! How do you pour this…? Checking the diagram, Mr. Sato discovered that he had the box upside down. On reflection, he realized the spout being on the top was a bit strange. This is how it should look: Yet, despite fixing his little mistake, Mr. Sato still didn't notice that there was a stand for the box included, so there was no need to set it on the edge of the table like he had done. You might wonder how hot coffee stored in a cardboard box could be, but you shouldn't underestimate it; it's seriously hot. There was so much steam, Mr. Sato was worried about burning his hands. Finally getting the coffee he'd been longing for, Mr. Sato really felt tempted to drink all 12 servings by himself. However, his conscience caught up with him, and he invited the other reporters in the office to a round of drinks. Even though there were only a few members at the office that day, they drank up the delicious coffee to help them power through their article writing. Looking at everyone's faces as they savored their drinks, Mr. Sato felt a warm glow inside as showing a little bit of generosity from time-to-time is essential for a senior team member. If something as simple as coffee can help elevate the mood in the office, it is money well spent. To think ordering coffee could make him feel so satisfied… Yuuichiro Wasai: 'Mr. Sato, could I have a minute?' Mr. Sato: 'What is it?' Yuuichiro: 'About the Coffee Traveler… I wrote an article about it before. I know we've already drunk it, but still…' Mr. Sato: 'Huh? You did?!' Yuuichiro: 'See, here it is. About a year and a half ago.' Mr. Sato: 'Oh… you're right…' Yuuichiro: 'When I ordered it, pick-up at the store was a lot cheaper. In December 2023, it was 3,100 yen. It's gone up to 3,500 yen now, but it's still way cheaper than delivery, right?' Yuuichiro: 'Also, the returnable pot service is about 2,900 yen for 10 cups. So, the Coffee Traveler has gone up in price, and there are cheaper options out there. I mean, just by choosing delivery, you're already paying more compared to buying at the store…' Mr. Sato: 'Yuuichiro… I just wanted to let everyone drink some coffee. Everyone is working hard today, and I just wanted to give them some coffee. I don't want to know how much money I'm losing. Yuuichiro… communication is not something you can determine by losses and gains.' Yuuichiro: 'If this was about communication, then why didn't you wait until everyone was here? There are 12 cups, and if only the few of us drink it, the others can only read about it in the article and… well… I'm sorry. The coffee is really good.' And so a subtle sense of distance settled between Mr. Sato and Yuuichiro. Nothing brings an office together quite like a cup of coffee… Putting that interlude aside, if you don't mind returning the pot, it'd be better to go with the cheaper Coffee Pot Service. If you're fine with picking it up but not with returning it, call the store or use mobile order. And, if you're like Mr. Sato, who feels both picking it up and returning it is a pain: use delivery. The more effort you put in yourself, the cheaper it gets. Related: Starbucks Coffee Traveler, Starbucks Coffee Pot Service Screenshots: Wolt Top and insert photos: ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
