World Expo in Osaka: Countries advertise the japanese desire to travel!

World Expo in Osaka: Countries advertise the japanese desire to travel!

With the aim of arousing the Japanese population's desire to travel, more and more countries and regions are using the upcoming Expo in Osaka as a platform to promote trips abroad. This initiative comes at a time when the demand for international trips was severely affected by Coronapandemic. The Japanese Association of Travel Agents (Jata) recently warned of the possible long-term effects on inbound tourism due to the changing travel habits.

The Expo, which is due to take place in Osaka in 2025, pursues the goal of attracting a total of 28.2 million visitors. But the challenges are great. An important problem is that many potential international visitors are not informed about the exact dates and content of the event, which leads to low enthusiasm. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is under pressure to improve communication and awareness of Expo. In the meantime, only around 13 million Japanese traveled abroad in 2024, which corresponds to less than 70% of the 2019 level.

variety of pavilions

The Expo pavilions are increasingly relying on cultural experiences and culinary offers to increase the interest of the Japanese tourists. An outstanding example is the Canadian pavilion, which opened a café of the airline Air Canada in mid -May. This is where the focus is on the national dish "Poutine", consisting of french fries, cheese and gravy. Videos with Canadian sights are also presented, and Air Canada has taken the seasonal flights between Kansai and Vancouver earlier than in the previous year.

The Turkish pavilion, on the other hand, offers a variety of information about cultural sites such as Göbekli Tepe and the opportunity to try business class seats from a Turkish airline. In 2024, around 130,000 Japanese visited Turkey, with the ambitious goal of increasing this number to 500,000 to 1 million travelers annually.

economic considerations

The weak yen and the high prices in many target countries have an important impact on the travel decisions of the Japanese. According to current estimates, the Japanese pass owner's proportion fell to 17.5%, which corresponds to a decline of around 6 percentage points in the past five years. This reduction outlines the economic reasons why the interest in Expo is important both within and outside of the country.

Expo could also offer an important opportunity for young people to get in touch with different cultures. Experts see the event as an opportunity to use the "expo effect" and to sustainably promote the desire to travel during the upcoming summer vacation period. In the period up to the Expo, business meetings between international tourism organizations and Japanese tour operators take place.

public initiatives and challenges

The Japanese government and local authorities have taken various measures to gain visitors. In the Kansai region, free invitations for children are offered to Expo, and Osaka Metro plans special "children's to children" trains to carry up to 12,000 students every day. Despite these efforts, over 30% of the schools in Osaka have not yet made a decision on participating in this program.

The sensational expo event will take place on Yumeshima, an artificial island in the Bay of Osaka. There will be a variety of innovations, including robots that lead visitors and autonomous buses for transporting between the pavilions. During the preparation for the Expo, the expected total costs for the event locations are estimated at around 125 billion yen, while the subway extension could cost an additional 73 billion yen.

In order to increase awareness of the Expo, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition has launched an official tourism portal, and the government uses social media for a doctorate, including through the presentation of the mascot "Myaku Myaku". Nevertheless, the organizers expect that only about 12% of the desired visitors will be internationally, which presents the organizers of challenges that have to be addressed throughout the Expo.