Travel agency H.I.S. and ANA Sales announced the establishment of a joint venture to generate demand for travel to Japan. Operations are scheduled to begin in spring 2015. Each company will hold a 51% and 49% stake.
The new company aims to combine the tourism products of both companies to create new package tours. H.I.S., the world's largest travel agency with a presence in 58 countries, will sell the Japan tours developed through this process in its stores and online. It will also promote the tours abroad through television commercials and flyers.
One of the new company's goals is to revitalize regional cities. To achieve this, the new company will utilize ANA's extensive domestic network, with 817 daily flights to 51 cities on 115 routes. By capturing connecting demand from the international network, the new company will offer new variations on tours that previously focused on international destinations. Another unique feature of this new product is that it will be sold exclusively for domestic travel within Japan, allowing travelers to use any international flight to reach the country.

The Abe administration has set a new goal of attracting 20 million international visitors to Japan by 2020, the year of the Tokyo Olympics. The establishment of this new company is a response to the rapidly increasing demand for travel to Japan from overseas, particularly in Asia. While domestic travel demand is unlikely to increase due to the declining birthrate, the aim is to create a system that will stimulate economic revitalization throughout the country by attracting international travelers.

Nobuo Hirooka, ANA Sales' new vice president, commented, "ANA has the expertise to run various campaigns with local governments and tourist facilities. While our previous focus was on domestic travel, we would like to promote our services in collaboration with local communities to the world." ANA Sales President Masayoshi Shiramizu also commented, "We want to develop businesses that will revitalize regional cities, not just along the Golden Route, but also utilizing infrastructure throughout Japan."

ANA has been offering "Taste of Japan" since September 2013, which contributes to regional revitalization by offering dishes made with local specialties from each prefecture and local sake. It is likely that these regional collaboration services will also be offered to tourists visiting Japan in the future.

Meanwhile, H.I.S. President Akira Hirabayashi commented, "Our company offers a product called 'Ciao,' which offers a relatively high degree of flexibility, and with the new company, we would like to offer packages that are similarly tailored to our customers' wishes and changes." With demand overseas recently shifting from group travel to individual travel, the company plans to offer flexible services that reflect this.