Japan

Japan is making a strong impact in the railway sector. After its famous Shinkansen, the country has just given the green light for the construction of the first magnetic levitation line between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of some 500 km, passing through Nagano, Nagoya and Kyoto in particular. The project has seen significant progress in recent days,...

The IHG group is continuing its landing phase in India. Already boasting around fifty hotels in operation in the country, the hotelier plans to open another hundred, with openings spread over the next three to five years. In this context, IHG has partnered with India's leading private airport operator, Adani Airport Holdings, to...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is looking for new resources to fill the gaping hole in Japan's public finances. And what better way than to tax travellers, who have the weakness of not being voters? It's a classic formula, and Japan has never...

All Nippon Airways is also introducing free in-flight connectivity. The Japanese airline announced on Tuesday that it was rolling out free high-speed Internet access to all passengers on its international flights. ANA will be working in partnership with Viasat, the world leader in in-flight connectivity. All...

Japanese airline giant All Nippon Airways (ANA) is continuing to focus on innovation and premium comfort for its high-contribution passengers. At the 55th Paris Air Show, the airline unveiled "THE Room FX", its brand new Business Class seat. The new seat is specifically designed to...

According to several national news agencies, Japan wants to improve the efficiency of the entry process into the country for international visitors - especially those exempt from visas.Attempts to improve the formalities for entering Japan appear to be ineffective so far. According to Japan's Ministry of Justice, an electronic system for pre-authorising entry to the country has been...

The Japanese government has just announced that it will be changing the rules governing tax-free purchases from 1 January 2026. Until now, the rules for refunding consumption tax on goods have been disarmingly simple. The tax, which amounts to 10%, is immediately deducted from purchases by foreign visitors, on presentation of their passport or identity card.

For Javier Roig, Finnair's outgoing Director for France and Southern Europe, Finnair has demonstrated an uncommon vitality and resilience. "We've been through a number of crises over the past decade. Covid, of course, but above all the worst was the closure of Russian airspace to European airlines with the war over the...

The Hilton group will be signing a number of firsts in the third quarter of this year, with the arrival this summer of its first hotels in Nepal, Laos and East Timor. From July onwards, business travellers to Kathmandu will find a 173-room Hilton hotel designed for corporate meetings, with...

They disappeared more than 20 years ago, but now they're back. Private cabins on Japan's Shinkansen high-speed trains are set to make a comeback. However, according to a recent announcement by Central Japan Railway Co, this will not be until fiscal year 2026. The line to be equipped with them will be the...

After Geneva recently, and with London to come in early June and the first appearance in Europe of YotelPad, its aparthotel offering, the Yotel brand will be continuing its expansion into the world's major cities in early 2025 in Tokyo, in the Ginza district. It's almost a return to its roots for this concept, which was initially based on the idea of capsule hotels,...

Although VTC applications do exist in Japan - Uber, for example, has been present in Tokyo since 2018 - this type of service is still finding it hard to find a place in the travel options of Japanese people or foreigners present in Japan. This situation is primarily due to a relatively...

At a time when Japan is once again experiencing a boom in tourist arrivals, the authorities are trying to speed up the process of entering the country in order to avoid overcrowding at its airports. On average, the waiting time for a foreign traveller arriving in Japan is around an hour. A programme to speed up formalities has been introduced...

AUSTRALIA Melbourne 1 Hotel Melbourne (2024)Set on the banks of the Yarra River, this new hotel embodies the arty, eco-friendly spirit of the 1 Hotels chain. By way of regeneration, the luxury brand launched by former Starwood boss Barry Sternlicht is taking part in the Seafarers project. In other words, the metamorphosis of a former industrial...

The Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport has just opened its doors, becoming the first international chain hotel close to the runways of Haneda airport, the departure point for many domestic flights and increasingly for international routes due to its greater proximity to the centre of the Japanese capital....

Finnair has been one of the airlines most affected by the ban on EU carriers flying over Russian territory since the outbreak of Russia's war with Ukraine. With the ban on flights over Russia, Finnair can now only reach Asia via the southern routes. In other words...

Japan clearly intends to take on a new dimension on the international tourism scene, particularly in the MICE segment. The project approved by the Japanese authorities on 14 April will provide the destination with a new master asset. The project includes a vast complex of almost 500,000 m², due to open...

The next logical step for this brand inspired by Japanese-style capsule hotels, Yotel is due to open in the heart of Tokyo in 2024, in the Ginza district. Like a return to the seeds of the concept. "The importance that Japan places on technology and innovation has been an important source of inspiration for Yotel since its inception," says Yotel's CEO,...

Updated on 15/2 at 11:30 a.m. Launched at the end of summer 2021, IHG's Vignette Collection is already in full swing. Month after month, this umpteenth brand launched by hotel groups to offer their commercial power to independent hotels or small groups whose special character will in return enhance their portfolio...

Updated on 31/1 at 12 noon - Authors: Arnaud Deltenre and Luc Citrinot for the South-East Asia Australia region Sydney's famous Darling Harbour district is set to be enriched this year by a new landmark building, the Ribbon, with its curved, futuristic silhouette. This is undoubtedly because this major project, incorporating a...