JTB, Nippon Express, and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings announced the joint establishment of Fun Japan Communications (FJC), a new digital marketing company targeting inbound tourism in Asia and ASEAN, on October 18th. They also announced a business alliance with JAL. The new company will be capitalized at 1 billion yen, with JTB holding 50%, Nippon Express 40%, and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings 10%. The new company, FJC, is a collaboration between Nippon Express and four companies across the travel, retail, logistics, and airline industries, based on "FUN! Japan," an online media platform operated by Nippon Express to understand the needs of local consumers and increase tourism to Japan. The alliance aims to create a touchpoint for sharing information relevant to local users' needs and disseminate detailed information about Japan. "FUN! Japan" currently distributes approximately three articles about Japan daily in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan. In Indonesia, the site has already accumulated over 900 days of archives. While the site is in English, its social media accounts are in the local language, with 1.31 million unique users per day and a monthly reach of 61.2 million. It has 3.33 million likes on social media, and with 330,000 web members, it boasts a strong information-sharing power for Japan within the Asian region. Plans are underway to launch the service in the Philippines and Vietnam. The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan is expected to exceed 20 million this year, doubling to 40 million by 2020 and the government's goal of 60 million by 2030. A common challenge facing companies and local governments in the inbound business going forward is gathering information on the real needs of overseas consumers in their respective locations. "Even within Asia and ASEAN, the needs of each country are completely different, so the key to success is how to attract tourists from emerging Asian countries," said Hiroyuki Takahashi, President and CEO of JTB, and Kenji Watanabe, President and CEO of Nippon Express. "We need to provide accurate local information to domestic companies that want to sell their products overseas," said Kenji Watanabe, President and CEO of Nippon Express. The new company's mission will be to conduct digital marketing through data sharing between different industries. "Amid diversifying needs, it is extremely significant that we have created a platform that can convey the message of products to inbound customers across industries and develop them into products, in order to capture and develop potential demands from overseas. For Isetan Mitsukoshi, it is important to use this platform to introduce and expand JAPAN SENSES, which introduces Japanese products that we have already launched," said Taiyo Onishi, President and CEO of Isetan Mitsukoshi HD.

Utilizing the information dissemination capabilities of the site, "we will strengthen cooperation with local governments to promote regional revitalization and disseminate information about Japanese products and events," says FJC President Daisuke Fujii, and the pillars of the business will be social promotion, market research, and marketing services that utilize consumer databases.

Text: Noda Tatsuya