Japan’s Rakuten Travel gears up for return of international visitors

As Japan fully reopens its borders to international visitors beginning next week, travel brands are gearing up to capture the expected demand.

According to Phocuswright’s Japan Travel Market Report 2021-25, Japan’s travel industry was a significant “growth engine” for the country’s economy before the pandemic, bringing in more than $108 billion in gross booking in 2019.

When the crisis began, Japan sealed its borders and only began allowing limited overseas visitors in June of this year. The broader lifting of restrictions next week is expected to spur travel to the archipelago, but Phocuswright estimates it will be 2025 before gross booking surpass the 2019 figure, to reach an estimated $112 billion. 

Rakuten Travel, the online travel platform launched by Japanese electronic brand Rakuten in 2001, is updating its site to provide a more user-friendly, customized search and booking experience for global travelers.

The site now has content and promotions tailored to travelers from eleven countries, including several in Asia Pacific as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, with payments available in the currencies of each country. The company says it will add content and currencies from more countries soon.

“Our goal is to connect our Japanese accommodation partners to global audiences and help them address the specific travel needs of international customers, as well as to allow international customers to access Japanese accommodation including hotels, ryokans and vacation rental properties for a high Japan Quality experience,” says Daisuke Nakahara, a Rakuten Travel spokesperson.

The company is also expanding its marketing in each country served by the new site, with promotional campaigns and “customizing content to engage customers from each country deeply.”

“We expect to see a strong rebound and are prepared to expand our marketing activities to capture the demand,” Nakahara says. 

According to Phocuswright, in Japan, “digital distribution will be key to a hotel market rebound, and online penetration is projected to climb to 60% in 2025 from 54% in 2021. OTA will continue to account for most online hotel revenue through 2025, and increases in OTA gross bookings will outpace those of supplier direct online channel.”