Japan’s tourism boom: How Rakuten Travel is riding the wave

Japan is experiencing an unprecedented tourism boom: 35 million people are projected to visit in 2024, and the government has set an ambitious target of 60 million by 2030.

What’s fueling this boom? And what role does Rakuten Travel have to play? Jeremy Bek, Rakuten Travel’s General Manager and Global Head of Travel, gives some expert insights.

Pent-up demand and the weak yen

“I think it boils down to a couple of reasons,” Bek explains. “The first is this sort of pent-up demand that Japan as a destination has held for potential tourists. The reason for that is it was one of the last countries to open after the pandemic. So, when the floodgates opened in October 2022, we saw lots of booking spikes.”

“2024 is here, and we’re already seeing inbound tourism surpass pre-pandemic numbers.”

Jeremy Bek, Rakuten Travel’s General Manager and Global Head of Travel

This is working in tandem with another crucial factor: Japan’s historically weak yen.

“The weak yen makes it very attractive and accessible for many tourists who perhaps before saw Japan as a relatively expensive tourist destination. It’s now conversely become one of the most affordable tourist destinations – yet with a high quality of products and services, as well as being very rich in culture and experiences.”

From local leader to global player

“Rakuten Travel is one of the largest online travel agencies in Japan, and most of its business is the Japanese domestic business – so Japanese travelers traveling within Japan. Over 90% of our business is based on that.”

Originally from Singapore, Jeremy Bek joined Rakuten Travel in 2018, and is leading the platform’s global push.

“Overseas, Rakuten Travel is not at all well-known,” Bek says. “However, we do have the offering of travel from around the world into Japan. My job is to market, or rather bring to the market our service and product offerings.”

“I’ve helped many companies in my past life to gain a foothold or to expand their business throughout Asia,” Bek shares. “All of my experience helped prime me for this role, and I think it’s a huge opportunity to take a local giant global.”

To achieve this ambitious goal, Bek and his team launched a comprehensive initiative to rebuild Rakuten Travel’s global platform from the ground up. The result is a sleek, user-friendly website that supports 9 languages and 15 different currencies, catering to visitors from across the globe.

Bek reveals that one of the key challenges in this transformation was adapting the website design for international tastes. “If you take a look at our Japan website and our global website, they look vastly different.”

Selling Japan quality

In a crowded global market of online travel agencies, Rakuten Travel is carving out its niche by focusing on what Japan does best: quality and service.

“Honestly we’re a little bit late in the game of globalization, so we can’t fight head-to-head – we have to outsmart the competition,” Bek admits. “So what we’ve decided that we’ll focus on, being a Japanese company, is that Japan is very well known for high quality products and high quality service. That’s our unique selling point.”

This emphasis on quality over quantity is deeply rooted in the Japanese principle of omotenashi, or heartfelt hospitality.

“We ensure that we curate the best, authentic experiences and services such that the customer, who has put aside so much money and time to enjoy their holiday, would be promised the most authentic, enjoyable, and smooth experience.”

This commitment to quality isn’t just a marketing slogan; it’s built into the platform itself. Rakuten Travel has implemented a ‘Japan quality’ badge system.

“On the platform, you’re able to filter hotels that have the Japan quality badge,” Bek explains. “That badge is only given to a percentage of hotels who meet the criteria that we accredit, so that customers can be sure that the hotels they choose are of a high standard.”

Diverse experiences and hidden gems

Rakuten Travel also stands out for its offerings that extend beyond regular hotel stays. The platform showcases a wide array of authentic Japanese experiences, from traditional ryokans and hot springs to unique culinary adventures.

“That’s something that’s not available on any other global online travel agent,” Bek explains. “The details that we have in there, with rich content and images… I think that’s one very unique access that we give to global travelers who never had the opportunity before.”

Meanwhile, as concerns about overtourism in popular destinations like Kyoto grow, Rakuten Travel is actively promoting lesser-known locales.

“We are providing a lot of access and information and content to secondary cities that are now also becoming popular,” Bek explains. “This helps the demand to disperse to other hidden gems as we could say, in other parts of Japan, which are just as beautiful, or arguably more beautiful in various aspects.”

Leveraging tech to enhance the experience

Rakuten Travel is harnessing cutting-edge technology to address the challenges posed by the tourism boom and enhance the overall travel experience. This includes the use of AI tools to help hotels increase efficiency and productivity, from faster plan creation to automated query translation.

In addition, the company has invested heavily in building robust global customer service systems.

“We have customer service in local languages in most of our key markets, with local call numbers so that it’s convenient and accessible for people overseas,” Bek explains. This multilingual support works in tandem with a Japanese service desk: “This service desk is able to ensure smooth communication in Japanese with the hotel.”

Next step: Anywhere to anywhere

“2024 is here, and we’re already seeing inbound tourism surpass pre-pandemic numbers,” Bek remarks. “Regardless of whether it’s pent-up demand from the pandemic or not, it’s always been a continuous upward trajectory.”

As Rakuten Travel continues to ride the wave of Japan’s tourism boom, Jeremy Bek and his team are already looking ahead to even greater ambitions.

“At this moment, Rakuten Travel is only offered to inbound and domestic tourists. In the near future, we will also expand the destinations to the rest of the world – so not only to Japan, but anywhere to anywhere.”

This vision of Rakuten Travel as a truly global online travel agency, facilitating journeys between any two points on the globe, represents the next frontier for the company. “That would truly make us a formidable, global online travel agency.”