Thoughts at the beginning of the year of a major travel company, reflection on scandals and references to Noto? There is a significant difference in awareness between KNT-CT and other companies.
2024 will continue to 2023, and in the process of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, a public works scandal at a travel agency was discovered, and a "bus tour fatality" occurred that threatened the safety of travel management. So, in the New Year's sentiments of major travel companies in 2025, will the leaders of the companies involved in the scandal pledge to reflect and prevent recurrence? Including the reference to the Noto Peninsula, we surveyed each company's New Year's sentiments.
| [Scandals of major travel companies in 2024] ・ 2024.06.17.The power of public guns, the suspension of the appointment of four major travel companies spreads in local governments nationwide ( ※ ) ・ 2024.06.21.Aomori City suspends the appointment of Kinzu for 9 months due to corona rigging ( ※ ) ・2024.10.26.JTB's "Malaysia Tour" kills one Japan in bus accident ( ※ ) ・2024.11.26.Was it discovered that a HIS subsidiary was fraudulently receiving employment adjustment subsidies? ※ ) ・ 2024.12.10.Tour organized by Kratu, sightseeing bus rolled over on a narrow snowy road and broke 2 fractures ( ※ ) |
JTB (Representative Director, President & CEO: Eijiro Yamakita)
In JTB's New Year's Message, the word "compliance" appears near the end of the sentence. However, there was no cease and desist order for antitrust violations or any specific reference to the bus accident that occurred in Malaysia. In addition, the content about the Noto Peninsula is not mentioned.
The overall impression was based on the registration of sustainable tourism with an international certification body as a material for self-evaluation, and mainly focused on sales topics such as events and inbound tourism. However, from the standpoint of a leading company in the travel industry and a company that holds the position of chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents, I have the impression that the company did not sufficiently express concrete reflection on the various problems in which the industry was involved and its willingness to solve problems, and that it was limited to formal expressions. （ Thoughts at the beginning of the year ）
HIS (President & CEO: Motoshi Yada)
HIS's New Year's sentiments are not published on the official website, but are announced through some industry media. There was no mention of the issue of overcharging of employment adjustment subsidies, which was newly revealed after the discovery of fraudulent receipt of benefits in the GoTo Travel business.
HIS's management seems to regard the scandals of its subsidiaries as "subsidiary problems," and the lack of transparency in how to deal with scandals raises questions about the social responsibility of listed companies. There was also no mention of the Noto Peninsula. （ New Year's Impressions/Industry Media ）
KNT-CT Holdings, Inc. (President & CEO: Yoshinobu Koyama)
KNT-CT Holdings, which owns Japan Tourist and Club Tourism, made a brief and to-the-point message at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the meeting, he expressed his prayers for the reconstruction of the Noto Peninsula, and then referred to the problem of overbilling in the past Corona disaster and the Turkish bus tour accident (club tourism), and clarified the efforts to prevent the recurrence of scandals.
References to sales prospects, which tend to be formal, are suppressed, and the fact that it touches on specific issues gives a sense of transparency and responsibility. （ Thoughts at the beginning of the year ）
Japan Travel (President & CEO: Etsumitsu Koyano)
Japan Travel clearly mentions the Noto Peninsula at the beginning. The parent company of the company is JR West Japan, which operates the Hokuriku Shinkansen, and has taken up attracting tourism to this region as an important theme and is actively promoting initiatives for regional revitalization.
On the other hand, the cease-and-desist order for violation of the Antimonopoly Act involving the Group's Japan Travel Tohoku is not mentioned, and the composition is mainly based on business prospects, and the attitude toward compliance is somewhat ambiguous. （ New Year's Impressions/Industry Media ）
Meitetsu Tourism Service (President & CEO: Michio Iwakiri)
Meitetsu Tourism Service has not published its impressions at the beginning of the year on its official website, but has been published in two industry newspapers. The trade press does not publish on its website, making it difficult for anyone other than subscribers to the trade press to read it, making it difficult for the general public to grasp the company's current status and future direction.
Tobu Top Tours (Representative Director, President & CEO: Koji Momokita)
"Tobu Top Tours has not announced its impressions at the beginning of the year," a spokesperson for the company said, and the details are unknown.
summary
Throughout the 2025 New Year's Sentiments, there was a difference in the response of each company. In particular, KNT-CT Holdings touches on specific issues, and its stance of increasing transparency can be commended.
On the other hand, JTB, HIS, and Japan Travel are all about self-promotion and formality, and there is no sincere remorse for past scandals. Social responsibility for a company that has caused a scandal is the activity of repeatedly issuing statements and gaining stakeholder understanding of the process of fixing the problem, not the work of letting the problem go untouched and forgotten.
In addition, Noto was mentioned only by Japan Tourist and Japan Travel.
This time, there were several travel agencies that announced their impressions at the beginning of the year only in certain industry media and did not announce them on the company's official website. In this regard, as a social responsibility of listed companies, their groups, and companies entrusted with public works, the attitude of public relations to the general traveler is questioned.
