Inspiring wanderlust was a core theme of this year’s Tourism Expo Japan, the country’s largest international travel event, which attracted 88,500 members of the public over two days in late September.
Held in Nagoya Prefecture for the first time, the expo spotlighted the urgency to stimulate greater outbound travel from Japan, particularly from Chubu Centrair International Airport, located adjacent to the venue, Aichi Sky Expo.
Japan looks to Chubu Centrair International Airport to drive the recovery of outbound tourism; photo by Lee Yiu Tung
“Japan’s central region, home to Centrair Airport, can serve as a catalyst for revitalising overseas travel, which remains in mid-recovery,” said Hiroyuki Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents.
Outbound travellers from Japan totalled 13 million in 2024, a 35.2 per cent increase year-on-year but only 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, indicating a slower recovery than other nations.
June brought improvement across seven major airports nationwide, with outbound departures reaching 75 per cent of 2019 levels on average, but Centrair achieved only 54 per cent, with 340 international flights weekly compared to 480 in 2019.
Speaking at the expo’s overseas travel symposium, a representative of Finnair, the only European carrier connected directly to Centrair, said increasing outbound travel from Japan is vital “because maintaining routes requires stimulating bidirectional demand”, adding that the airline had doubled its summer schedule from two to four flights weekly.
A representative of Japan Airlines, which increased its Centrair to Honolulu service to daily flights in July, said the airline aims to improve year-round passenger numbers to Hawaii by supporting the state’s marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, and other events.
Meanwhile, Centrair announced plans to promote business travel and expand passport acquisition support for its passengers from those aged 20 and under to those aged 25 and under.
AloJapan.com