News

2020.11.11 The annual Tourism EXPO Japan was held in Okinawa for the first time!

From October 29th to November 1st 2020, Okinawa Convention Center received 24,080 visitors at the Tourism EXPO Japan Okinawa Business Meetings & Exhibition. The show attracted representatives from companies and organizations across Japan with 285 exhibitor booths, representing 30 foreign countries and regions in this edition. The first two days were exclusive for trade meetings by industry professionals, and for the last two days the show also opened its doors to the general public.

The Tourism EXPO Japan is the largest tourism fair in Japan, organized by joint efforts of the Japan Travel and Tourism Association, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). It has been held at Tokyo Big Sight since 2014, and in recent years was held in Osaka (2019) and this year in Okinawa to showcase the attractiveness of various cities in Japan.

The show featured speakers from UNWTO, ambassadors from various countries and tourism officials from a range of areas in Japan, who discussed the restart of international tourism. Vice-president of the Japan National Tourism Organization, Katsumi Endo said that “Okinawa boasts a wide range of accommodation from business to high end, as well as beautiful natural wonders. Hosting this event allowed business events planners to rediscover the region’s appeal, and also brought encouragement to the hosting of more business events”.

This EXPO followed the strict industry regulations for hosting safe events. As part of the measures to prevent spreading of contagious diseases, the show limited attendees in shifts?(morning/afternoon) and featured electronic gates that enabled participants' self-check-in.

For detailed statistics, click the link to the?official press release.