Reports from recent AJS-NSW Events

With the goal of drawing 20 million inbound tourists annually by 2020,  in 2016 the Japanese government doubled the target to 40 million, now within reach four years ahead of schedule. There has been amazing growth of tourists to Japan with Australian and New Zealand tourist numbers to Japan doubling in the last 5 years. This trend is continuing with the year on year increase tracking at 18%.

Kana Wakabayashi and the JNTO office in Sydney are to be congratulated. Wakabayashi-san detailed some of the initiatives. JNTO are working closely with a broad range of stakeholders and providing a number of initiatives including Masterchef Japan Week. In spring 2017 the Masterchef finalists travelled to Japan and all episodes for a week were shot in Japan, featuring Japan’s best scenery and ingredients.

This provided huge exposure to the Australian audience – a group who nominates food as the number one experience when travelling to Japan. It was a tremendous initiative that truly promoted the best of Japan.

Another unique initiative of the JNTO has been the emoji master campaign.