TRAVEL giant JTB Corporation has drawn up a new programme designed to take visitors to Japan further off the beaten track.

Launched this month, it offers travellers the opportunity to stay with a farming family in one of Japan’s more rural districts. Travellers will get the opportunity to stay in a traditional farmhouse, try the local onsen, sleep in a futon on a tatami mat floor, and pick vegetables for dinner.

Marketed through JTB’s Authentic Visit Japan website, this programme was drawn up in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the tourism authority in the town of Ohtawara, in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

“Many people who come to Japan want to do something different from the Golden Route of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. They told us that they want to see the authentic, traditional Japan, which is why we have come up with this package,” said Yoko Kageyama, who devised the programme for JTB.

Around 100 families in Ohtawara are taking part, with two homes allocated specifically for overseas tourists. In the first two weeks of the project, a family of five from Spain and an educational group from South-east Asia have sampled the delights of rural Japan.

“We have had a lot of enquiries from Asia, North America and Europe, and we are confident these sort of holidays will appeal to a wide range of tourists looking to experience a very different side of Japan,” said Kageyama.

JTB plans to expand the project to communities nationwide if demand increases.

UNITED Airlines will be launching daily direct return flights from Singapore to San Francisco starting June.

The inaugural flight will take off on June 1 from San Francisco International Airport and the return flight will depart from Singapore Changi Airport on June 3.

Utilising a 252-seat Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner with two-class configuration, flights leave Singapore at 08.45 and land in San Francisco at 09.15. Return flights will depart from San Francisco at 23.25 and arrive in Singapore at 06.45.

Flight times now total to 16 hours and 20 minutes westbound, and 15 hours and 30 minutes eastbound, roughly four hours less travel time required compared to United Airlines’ existing service which requires a transfer at Japan’s Narita Airport.

Following the launch, United Airlines will cease its service between Singapore and Tokyo from June 2.

JAPAN is the fastest growing market in the world for Airbnb, but operators of hotels and inns there said they are not concerned about the inroads made by the online home rental marketplace.

The number of people using Airbnb’s service in Japan soared 529 per cent, while listings of properties have increased 373 per cent to 21,000 in 2015 compared to the year before.

But 2015 also saw an influx of 19.7 million foreign visitors, up 47 per cent on the previous year, thus worsening the existing shortage of accommodations, particularly in the most popular destinations of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

“Japan is seeing an increase in number of tourists and there are not enough hotel rooms, especially during the busy Golden Week and Obon seasons,” said Nana Nakajima, head of sales and marketing, Mystays Hotel Management.

“We don’t see Airbnb as much of a threat to what we do at the moment, although there is concern about what will happen after the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, if visitor numbers will drop off dramatically.”

Takashi Hasegawa, owner of Yagyu-no-Sho ryokan in Shizuoka prefecture, similarly played down the competition that Airbnb poses. “We offer something that is completely different to their service,” he said.

“We are small, we only have 15 traditional rooms, and people want to stay with us because we are authentic and we provide a genuine Japanese experience. Anyone considering Airbnb wants accommodation that is cheap, but that’s not our business model,” he explained.

Airbnb is also facing scrutiny from the Japanese authorities after questions were raised over property owners failing to pay taxes, as hotels are required to do. There are also concerns over hygiene and safety at properties not registered as providing accommodation.

The Japanese government announced in December that it was setting up a panel to make amendments to the Hotel Business Law, specifically concerning individuals renting private accommodation to tourists. The changes are expected to be passed into law in Autumn.

THE upmarket Amari Galle Sri Lanka, to be operated by Onyx Hospitality Group, is set to open in late-2016 and will mark the introduction of the Amari brand in Sri Lanka.

Amari Galle will be located at the southwestern coastal region of Sri Lanka, on a beachfront approximately 90 minutes by car from Colombo.

The 172-key property offers rooms and suites all with direct sea views, an extensive multi-tiered pool deck with direct beach access, Amari’s signature Breeze Spa, two restaurants, banquet facilities and a fitness centre.

Peter Henley, president and CEO, Onyx Hospitality Group, said: “We are strategically expanding our presence beyond Thailand across the Asia-Pacific region, and excited to introduce our flagship Amari brand to Sri Lanka. Tourism in this country is thriving, and there is growing interest amongst international travellers to Galle.”

Onyx currently operates Ozo Colombo and Ozo Kandy in Sri Lanka.

TOURISM Australia has launched a global campaign featuring Australia’s aquatic and coastal destinations on January 25, the eve of Australia Day.

Themed There’s Nothing like Australia, the campaign highlights experiences from every Australian state and territory including a helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles; swimming in Sydney Harbour; snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef; kayaking through Katherine Gorge; driving on the beach in South Australia; cycling around Lake Burley Griffin; sailing through the blue waters of Rottnest Island; and walking the recently launched Three Capes Track in Tasmania.

Virtual reality (VR) technology and user generated content (UGC) will also feature heavily in the promotions and will complement other existing Tourism Australia marketing activities, such as its food, wine and indigenous experiences.

“This campaign has been designed to be incredibly immersive and capture what it feels like to be in Australia and to experience for yourself being on, in or near the water,” said Lisa Ronson, chief marketing officer, Tourism Australia.

“By using VR and 360 (degrees) technology, we hope to inspire prospective travellers considering Australia for their next holiday and get them to take that crucial next step towards making a booking.”

Tourism Australia will spend A$40 million (US$28 million) over the next six months unveiling the new campaign, firstly in the US with a joint campaign with Virgin Australia before heading to other key international markets.

Redang Island

MALAYSIA’s Terengganu state government is stepping up promotions to attract niche market segments such as cruising, medical and sports tourism, diving and angling in order to boost tourist spend and length of stay in the state.

Through the Visit Terengganu Year 2017 campaign, the local government hopes to reach 5.5 million tourist arrivals by next year. However, Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Mokhtar, Terengganu state deputy EXCO on tourism, stressed at a press event this week that “the numbers are not as important as the quality of spend of tourists per night.”

With the theme Beautiful Terengganu, the campaign will leverage on its well-known snorkelling and diving islands, Redang and Perhentian, to promote tourism in the mainland and to increase the average length of stay of foreign visitors from 5.2 to 6.5 days.

Visit Terengganu Year 2017 is also a catalyst for the state’s larger agenda of attracting some 6.5 million arrivals over the next five years. Besides domestic tourists, the state is also targeting arrivals from China, India, South-east Asia and Europe.

SINGAPORE’s Changi Airport logged healthy growth numbers last year with passenger traffic and aircraft movements rising 2.5 and 1.4 per cent year-on-year, or a total of 55.4 million passengers and 346,330 landings and take-offs respectively.

The month of December broke monthly traffic records with a 3.9 per cent increment compared to the same period in 2014, for a total of 5.29 million passenger movements.

Thailand, Vietnam and China were the fastest growing source markets, registering 12.5, 7.2 and 7 per cent increases respectively. Meanwhile, arrivals from Indonesia declined 7.3 per cent and from Hong Kong by 1.2 per cent. Changi Airport attributed the declines to the strength of the Singapore currency.

Still, Indonesia remained as Singapore’s top source market with the Singapore-Jakarta route being the busiest for the airport, recording 3.79 million passenger movements last year. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Manila were the next four busiest links.

Part of the growth came from the commencement of new and returning carriers at the airport. Air New Zealand resumed operations on the Singapore-Auckland route while the likes of Batik Air, Thai Lion Air and Myanmar National Airlines improved traffic flow within South-east Asia.

Eight new passenger destinations were also added in 2015, including Changchun, Quanzhou, Sanya and Yinchuan in China, as well as Cairns in Australia, Lucknow in India, Luang Prabang in Laos and Pattaya (U-Tapao) in Thailand.

“We have seen both full-service and low-cost carriers add capacity in recent months and this has resulted in stronger passenger growth of about 5 per cent for the second half of the year,” said Lee Seow Hiang, CEO, Changi Airport Group.

“Going forward, economic uncertainty in many markets, made worse by lacklustre business and consumer confidence, may dampen travel demand in the near term. However, low fuel prices should support airlines’ profitability.”