Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) facilitated five separate agent famils to Japan this month, treating travel advisors to trips through Kyushu, Hokuriku, Hokkaido, Tokyo and Kansai in November 2022.
Working with Linkd Tourism to create the ideal itineraries, JNTO’s famils were designed to equip advisors with firsthand knowledge of the amazing experiences in Japan after the country fully reopened to international tourism in October.
JNTO Business Development Manager Sally Miles hosted seven luxury advisors to an all-inclusive six-day luxury famil through Tokyo, Ise Shima, Kobe, Osaka, Sakai and Koyasan from 16–22 November.
The seven participants were Anthony Lee of Traveloso (an independent affiliate of Frontier Travel), Lisa Rayner (Spencer Travel), Mark Langhorne (Freedman, Langhorne & Turner Travel Associates), Martin Cummings of Elite Cruising & Tours (MTA Travel), Penny Whormsley (Mosman Travel), Sandra Ivelja of SO Travel (NZ Travel Brokers) and Sarah Arane (Crooked Compass).
Unique experiences
Flying Japan Airlines into Haneda, the itinerary began with two nights in The Okura Tokyo’s 6-star Heritage Wing with other accommodations including a range of hotels as well as a unique temple stay.
To showcase the cuisines available in Japan, meals ranged from kaiseki, a traditional Japanese degustation paired with sake, to exquisite Michelin-starred French cuisine as well as an okonomiyaki and yakisoba cooking class in Osaka. In Kobe, the advisors saw the famed melt-in-your-mouth Kobe beef cooked right in front of their eyes.
Other cultural experiences included traditional handicrafts and customs, such as Edo Kiriko glass cutting, pearl harvesting, knife sharpening and a tea ceremony.
When asked for their trip highlights, opinions were mostly split between teamLab Planets, a multisensory digital art museum in Tokyo, and the Koyasan temple stay where advisors dressed in traditional monks’ robes for a vegan shojin ryori dinner before a night tour of Okunoin Cemetery.
To find out more, visit japan.travel