Column: Industry groups that do not touch on the success of the Tourism EXPO and the fraudulent problem of the Corona disaster
From September 26 to 29, 2024, the travel festival "Tourism EXPO Japan 2024" was held at Tokyo Big Sight. Many visitors visited the exhibition for the first two days as an industry-related day, and the two weekends as a public day.
According to the organizers, this year's event attracted exhibitors from 80 countries, up from 70 last year, and the number of visitors was about 183,000, far exceeding the 148,000 people who attended the 2023 event in Osaka. The breakdown of visitors was about 72,000 on the Industry Professionals Day and about 111,000 on the Open Day, accounting for about 65% of the total.
While the event was a place for local governments and tourism associations to promote local content to consumers, it was also a great opportunity for travel agents to showcase their services and hold accountable for the fraud problem in the travel industry triggered by the coronavirus pandemic this year.
However, at this year's EXPO, major travel agencies involved in fraud such as JTB, Japan Tourist, Japan Travel Agency, Tobu Top Tours, and Meitetsu Kanko had large booths, but there were no exhibits on reflection on the fraud problem or measures to prevent recurrence.
In addition, there was no program at the Industry Relations Day seminar to reflect on fraud in the travel industry. On the other hand, legal programs such as customer pick-up and white numbers by lawyers, and cancellation fees in travel agency terms and conditions by compliance officers of the organizer Japan Association of Travel Agents were provided. It may be unavoidable that travel agencies do not exhibit at their booths, but it is quite conceivable that they will be programmed at the organizer's seminars.
In addition, the newspaper distributed at the venue " Tourism EXPO Japan Special Feature Interviews with representatives of the three organizers* were posted, but there were no comments on the fraud problem, although they touched on issues in the travel industry, such as the decrease in job seekers due to the coronavirus pandemic and labor shortages, among themes such as the travel market and expectations for the EXPO.
| * Japan Mr. Akihito Sai, Chairman of the Japan Tourism Promotion Association (former Managing Director of JR Japan East), Mr. Hiroyuki Takahashi, Chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of JTB), and Mr. Atsumi Gamo, Chairman of the Japan Japan Tourism Bureau (former Commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency) |
According to the Tourism Expo Public Relations Office, the newspaper's feature article is not an advertisement, but a suggestion from the newspaper. However, even if the reporter did not ask the question, he could have touched on the issue of injustice as an interviewer. Failure to address the issue is perceived as underestimating its importance.
If you're a leader in the travel industry, you're expected to have a high-quality compliance policy and be proactive and transparent with consumers. However, this was avoided in this feature article. Is the fraud problem caused by the coronavirus pandemic a minor issue in the industry compared to the problem of job seekers and labor shortages?
Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents, also serves as chairman of JTB and is the head of a company that has received a cease-and-desist order from the Japan Fair Trade Commission for coronavirus-related businesses and is facing lawsuits over overbilling issues in Nara Prefecture. In addition, he is responsible for the official position on the fraud issue announced by the Japan Association of Travel Agents so far, and is in a position to be accountable more than anyone else. However, at this EXPO, it seems that they have decided that it is not necessary to fulfill that responsibility.
In order for industries and companies involved in fraud to fulfill their social responsibilities, it is essential to face the problem with transparency and provide continuous information to consumers. In this context, it is important to provide explanations in places where consumers meet directly. Even if an apology text is posted on the website of an industry group that no one sees, or on the corporate page of a corporate website, or a discussion is held at a meeting between related parties, it will hardly be conveyed to the world. In such a situation, there may be cases where consumers purchase the services of travel agencies involved in fraudulent issues without knowing (*).
| * December 9, 2023 [Independent Survey] 400 consumers at the end of 2023 look back on the fraud problem in the "travel industry" (see Q2) |
Only about four months after the cease-and-desist orders against four major travel agencies were issued, many municipalities are still suspending appointments. However, the travel industry seems to be hoping that consumers will not be aware of the fraud problem and that consumers will gradually forget about it.
If you were in charge of an industry association at a time when fraud issues arose or responsibilities were revealed, and you are still in that role, you should not choose a place of accountability based on your preferences during your tenure, but should always be accountable whenever you have access to a large number of consumers, and continue to talk about preventing recurrence until you retire. It's the same as always explaining the importance of inbound.
The impact of the new coronavirus, which began in 2020, initially hit the travel industry hard. However, a large amount of public projects such as GoTo Travel, travel support, and vaccines were implemented to support the travel industry, and a large amount of budget was invested. This support would have allowed the major travel agencies to stay afloat, but many of the major travel agencies that benefited from the support were involved in fraudulent activities. These problems will not be solved in a few years or months.
