Yokoso! With travel to Japan all the rage, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has announced the appointment of Naoki Kitazawa to the Executive Director role in Sydney.
Replacing outgoing director Yoko Tanaka, who will head up JNTO’s Los Angeles office, Kitazawa most recently led JNTO’s Seoul (Korea) office for two years.
Leading the Sydney team, Kitazawa will continue pushing JNTO’s dual objectives of boosting overall visitor numbers to Japan from Australia and raising the profile of the country’s regional and lesser-known areas as well as upcoming events like the Osaka Expo 2025.
“I’m excited to be in Australia and I look forward to working with industry partners and progressing the alliances that have been developed over the years and continuing in Ms Tanaka’s footsteps,” Sydney’s new JNTO boss said.
“We know Australians love Japan and, especially for second or third-time visitors, we want to encourage visitors to dig a little deeper into Japan beyond well-known areas and explore rural and lesser-known destinations – whether it’s hiking one of the many National Parks or experiencing a traditional temple-stay.”
On her departure to LA, Tanaka said, “the passion that I have seen from the Australian travel trade and the public with regard to travel to Japan has been inspiring, and I appreciate all of the support that has been shown over the years”.
What’s coming up?
In its push to entice visitors to ‘Experience Japan Your Way’, JNTO will host a series of media and trade familiarisations as well as launch digital and social media marketing campaigns.
JNTO says Aussies’ love for travel to Japan has bounced back “sharply” to pre-pandemic levels, largely thanks to upped air capacity to the Asian nation and the robust performance of the Australian dollar against the Yen.
According to recent JNTO data, Japan welcomed more than 2 million international visitors in a month (June) for the first time since February 2020.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data also showed that Japan was one of the fastest-growing destinations for Aussies pre-pandemic, with 522,000 residents returning from a short stay in the country in 2019 – 13 per cent higher than 2018 figures.
JNTO also recently hosted several product managers in Nagano and Gifu prefectures on a trip that highlighted the best of the ‘green’ summer season.
