Hoshino Resort held the “Kansai Press Conference 2024” in Osaka City on September 25.
In addition to a presentation of new projects to be implemented by Hoshino Resorts’ facilities in the Kansai region over the coming fall and winter, Representative Yoshiro Hoshino spoke about the future of the tourism industry in anticipation of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which will open in the spring of 2025.
The main topic is the new craft beer bar at OMO Kansai Airport by Hoshino Resort, which opens in March 2023. The hotel, which has attracted attention as an airport hotel that differs from Hoshino Resort’s previous concepts, has performed well along with the recovery of airline demand for the Corona disaster, and on November 1, the company announced the opening of a new craft beer bar, Yona Yona Moonwalk, on the rooftop.
In collaboration with Yona Yona Ale, the signature product of Yakko Brewing, founded in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, the company hopes guests will enjoy the outstanding view from the rooftop terrace with a craft beer in hand. In addition to this, a large baggage room that combines functionality and design has been newly built. The baggage room, which is designed to resemble the inside of an airport terminal, includes a packing table where large bags can be unfolded and luggage can be organized, as well as equipment for weighing luggage. The baggage room is designed to allow passengers to organize their luggage before going to the airport, making check-in at the airport a stress-free experience.
Another topic attracting attention in the Kansai region is the “Hoshinoya Nara Jail” scheduled to open in the spring of 2026, which was announced at the same press conference last year. There was no update on this topic, and it was only mentioned that it is on schedule to open in the spring of 2026 and is progressing smoothly.
The most noteworthy of all was the comment by Representative Yoshimichi Hoshino about future tourism demand in anticipation of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which is scheduled to open next spring.
The size of Japan’s travel market increased slightly to 28.1 trillion yen in 2023, compared to 27.9 trillion yen in 2019 before Corona. Looking at this alone, it appears to be returning to pre-Corona levels, but this is due to an increase in inbound travel, while domestic travel demand has fallen slightly. This is a concern for the Japanese tourism industry. Since domestic travel demand accounts for a very large portion of Japan’s travel market, even if inbound demand grows, if domestic demand declines, the size of Japan’s overall travel market will fall. For this reason, he said, it is important to maintain a solid level of domestic travel demand.
For inbound tourism, it is necessary to connect to demand for Kansai (Osaka) tourism through the Osaka/Kansai Expo so that it is not just about big projects such as the Osaka/Kansai Expo. It is important to create continuous demand and repeat visitors through the event. In addition, according to 2023 figures, 75% of inbound tourism is now concentrated in five cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, and Fukuoka. He also noted that it is important to diversify the number of inbound visitors to the Expo to regional areas.
© Source travel watch
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