The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has opened an office in Stockholm, Sweden on March 4 to build up destination promotions in Nordic countries, one of its priority markets since 2023.
The office will join manage JNTO’s tourism promotion activity in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, which were growing markets pre-pandemic. The number of inbound travellers to Japan from Nordic countries has long been increasing, rising from 92,917 in 2014 to peak at 141,004 in 2019.
Although the market has not fully rebounded, resulting in only 96,295 arrivals in 2023, confidence is high due to the uptick in Scandinavian visitors at snow resorts this winter and the launch of more flights connecting Japan and the region, including All Nippon Airway’s route between Haneda and Stockholm debuting in 2024.
“Overseas travel is very active in the Nordic region, which has a lot of potential for market development. With new direct flights scheduled to begin in 2024, we will seize this opportunity and work with Japanese tourism-related businesses to attract tourists,” said JNTO in a statement.
The new office will promote sales of Japan tours by local travel agents, develop relations with local media, carry out market analysis, disseminate tourist information to consumers and provide support to host international conferences.
Before joining Jazeera Airways, Barathan was CEO of Jetstar Asia.
As the tourism industry continues on its challenging journey towards net-zero, it is key that climate justice is kept at the forefront and support is given to the most vulnerable destinations, opined a speaker at ITB Berlin 2024.
Jeremy Sampson, CEO of The Travel Foundation, said a recent report released by the organisation revealed that under a business as usual scenario, by 2050, the tourism industry will be responsible for 66 per cent of global carbon emissions.
Aviation is particularly polluting and is responsible for 55 per cent of all tourism’s emissions. Longhaul flights make up 90 per cent of the sector’s global carbon emissions, despite only accounting for 1.9 per cent of all trips.
He noted that while multiple policies are being implemented to decarbonise the industry, it is key that frameworks take into account the carbon economies of developing and less developed countries.
“Some destinations are better placed to transition to a low carbon economy than others,” he said. “How can we ensure destinations that are less developed, or completely dependent on longhaul tourism, are not left behind?”
To achieve this, bolstering destinations must form a crucial part in the next step in climate action and tourism.
“This means target strategies for building resilience for enriching natural resources, not depleting them; for providing nature-based solutions, such as replenishing mangroves and reefs protecting tourism assets, not destroying them; and protecting wider communities from damages that will occur as wildfires spread and the increase in natural storms.”
He said the only way to achieve this is to listen to these destinations and communities’ needs.
Sampson added that with regard to the divide between the Global North and South and decarbonising the aviation industry, serious conversations need to be had regarding climate justice.
“Can we really expect developing economies in the Global South to hold off from building airports and new air routes when they look at the amount of flying and connectivity that Europeans and other economies have already enjoyed? Of course, we can’t do that.”
In April, Travel Foundation will publish a white paper on climate justice and ways the industry can approach the issue fairly.
“We need to ensure that the most vulnerable destinations, often those who have done the least to cause this problem, can be supported. We must start now to avoid worsening the situation,” Sampson added.
He recommended incorporating sustainability and climate action plans into business plans, and, instead of pumping huge budgets into promotion, make “meaningful investment” in these destinations.
“Destinations without the resources to act are often hit with multiple requests to raise standards to help demonstrate the industry credibility and sustainability credentials, but are not being supported to do so,” Sampson said.
“This is a call to action to identify the bigger ecosystem within which you exist and the organisations that are best placed to influence it, and to spend the money and resources that are required to support the change that needs to occur.”