Multiple foreign-affiliated OTAs suspected of mediating "white taxi" at Haneda Airport – Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers mention measures against malicious companies on SNS

On December 15, 2023, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member of the House of Representatives Shunsuke Takei said on his X account that a foreign-affiliated OTA (online travel agency) was involved in the arrangement of illegal "white taxis" and that he would coordinate with the Japan Tourism Agency and take measures such as announcing the name of the malicious company by the end of the year.

The issue was reported by travel news site Trisea on December 11 article It surfaced by. The fact that Booking.com (Netherlands), a major OTA, is mediating a white taxi at Haneda Airport was revealed, and a case of a white taxi that seems to be Chinese was arranged was reported by a reporter's verification.

We are coordinating with the Japan Tourism Agency to respond to not only white taxi operators but also malicious OTAs (online travel agents and overseas travel agencies) by the end of this year, including the announcement of the names of companies that do not change. https://t.co/q7cWjfdMoU

— Shunsuke Takei (Liberal Democratic Party) (@syunsuke_takei) December 15, 2023

Next, Tricy turned its attention to Asian OTAs such as Agoda (Singapore), Crook (Hong Kong), and Trip.com (China) and sent a questionnaire to each company. Then, on the morning of the 13th, we reported that we had received a reply from a Crook spokesperson that "we do not dispatch white taxis," and on the evening of the same day, we reported the fact that it was possible to dispatch white taxis via Crook.

Later, it was reported that Agoda could also arrange a white taxi, and that the Taiwanese OTA K-Day admitted to the violation of the registrar.

When the editorial department of Yotabi asked Shunsuke Takei's office about this matter, they said, "We are coordinating with the Japan Tourism Agency, which plays a role in solving inbound issues." He has worked for Miyazaki Kotsu and Rakuten Travel, and is involved in policy formulation in the tourism sector.

In addition, with the increase in inbound tourism this summer, the problem has become apparent at Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, Kansai International Airport, etc. The relevant authorities are conducting awareness-raising activities, but they are struggling to grasp the actual situation of white taxi traders. The Kanto Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Transport Bureau, the police, etc. will work together to hold a countermeasure meeting to grasp the actual situation of white taxis and prevent it.

Recently, with the rise of foreign-affiliated OTAs in Japan, there have been reports of people who have been victims of reservation errors, and problems such as non-payment to registered businesses and leakage of credit card information have been reported at Dutch Booking.com.

And this time, the problem of white taxi placement was discovered, mainly for foreign-affiliated OTAs (including booking companies), which have a large number of users for Asian travelers, who make up the majority of visitors to Japan.