WiT takes its “Travel Zero.O” theme to Tokyo and puts the spotlight on how the travel industry in Japan is rebooting for the future. To quote Doc Brown in “Back To The Future”, “Things have certainly changed around here.”

And things have certainly changed in Japan as well. In a global world gone local, Japan is probably in one of the strongest positions to recover due to its robust domestic market. In 2018, the total value of travel and tourism to Japan’s economy was 26.1 trillion yen (approx. US$241 billion), of which inbound travel formed 17% market share (4.5 trillion yen). The lion’s share was domestic at 20.5 trillion yen.

There are those who argue that this is a good time for Japan to reboot its domestic tourism industry – get youths to travel, redesign its products and services, rethink its marketing strategies – while planning and preparing for the day when borders open again.

At WiT Japan & North Asia, we catch up on the new thinking that’s driving change in Japan’s travel industry and how different players are imagining the future in travel, technology and hospitality, as well as bridge the conversations between North Asia and the rest of the world at a time when borders remain closed.