President Message

One year has passed since Japan downgraded the legal classification of COVID-19 — bringing an end to quarantine guidelines for COVID-19 patients. We are seeing a rapid recovery of socioeconomic activities, including increased domestic travel and inbound tourism. On a global scale, it is expected that both corporate interaction and personal activity will be significantly increased in the future.
On the other hand, issues such as over-tourism have once again come to the fore. The tourism industry needs to explore a path not identical to the one before the pandemic but towards a better future and a more sustainable society.

The environment surrounding the tourism industry right now is far from smooth. Various challenges are piling up, such as mounting tensions in the international community; the yen’s continued depreciation; soaring prices of natural resources. Efforts are also needed to achieve decarbonization and realize the sustainable development goals (SDGs), due to heightened environmental awareness; and an increased demand for respect for diversity. Having said that, no matter what situation we face, tourism remains invaluable to our lives, and even in this age of uncertainty, we believe the tourism industry is resilient enough to withstand adversity and will achieve recovery. True to this conviction, JTB Tourism Research & Consulting, as a think tank specializing in the tourism industry, aims to best serve its customers by flexibly accommodating the changes brought by today’s world.

There is a famous saying by French novelist Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” This epitomizes what tourism is all about, and sheds light on what we should focus on in building the industry’s future.

Recent remarkable advancements in both digitization and digital transformation have reshaped many areas of our lives, including the way we communicate, work, and consume goods. As time progresses, more new tools will make our lives more convenient. However, in our pursuit of convenience and efficiency, could we unknowingly be losing what is truly important to us? Rather than introducing new tools merely for the sake of innovation, we must carefully examine their usefulness and determine whether they are things which help us evolve. In the end, we may conclude that, “We shouldn’t be introducing something simply because it’s novel,” and that could well be a wise decision. Helping our customers achieve their goals does not always require new tools. Existing ones, viewed through “new eyes,” may lead us to the right solution. I think this is the implication of the “real voyage of discovery” in the Proust quote.

There is no end to the real voyage of discovery, we’d like to continue the journey with you, focusing on our mission as a tourism think tank to be your “new eyes,” and carefully watch day-to-day changes in the world so as to serve you in the best way possible.

We are committed to enriching people’s lives and their communities. For our endeavors, I would like to sincerely request your continued goodwill and support.

April 2024