In the last five years - from 2012 to 2017 - the number of tourists from Japan in Lithuanian accommodation establishments increased by 143,3 percent. and continues to grow regularly. In order to further encourage the flow of incoming tourism from this distant market, Lithuania is investing in establishing contacts with Japanese tour operators and creating travel packages with new services, videos specifically for Japanese tourists, specialized publications and events.
"The Japanese are in demand tourists all over the world. They are very curious, active, tolerant, and do not limit spending on souvenirs. After the presentation of Lithuania as an attractive country for tourism at this year's largest Japanese tourism exhibition "Tourism Expo 2018" in Tokyo, we noticed a new trend - the Japanese already know our country well and are planning not only their first, but even their second or third visit, so the main goal of us and the tourism business now has to be the introduction of new services and routes so that tourists are interested in seeing not only Vilnius, Kaunas or the Hill of Crosses, but also other regions of Lithuania. This would also help us to increase the average length of stay, because now Japanese travelers spend an average of 1,6 nights in Lithuania and go to Latvia and Estonia," Indrė Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė, chairperson of the Liquidation Commission of the Tourism Department, believes in the prospects of cooperation between Japan and Lithuania in the field of tourism.
The international tourism exhibition of Japan "Tourism Expo 2018", which took place on September 20-23. In Tokyo, the theme was "New forms of tourism and travel". At the stands of 130 participating countries, they emphasized the education, experiences, and discoveries that await tourists. At the exhibition, Lithuania presented a video specially created for Japan for the first time, in which Japanese women traveling around the country try amber fishing, baking bread, flying in a hot air balloon, and many other experiences that cause positive emotions.
"The tourist experience is the main keyword these days, so this is one of the best advertisements for Lithuania as a tourist country. Theoretical information is abundant on various websites, and travelers are basically looking for exceptional experiences. In addition, the video characters were perfectly chosen - two women of the Y generation, traveling individually or in small groups, it is precisely this target audience that we have to focus on and try to attract them", - says Shigeyoshi Noto, head of the tourism advertising company "Foresight Marketing", which carries out the marketing of Lithuanian tourism in the Japanese market. .
Andrius Kleiva, the author of the book "How Japan Works", seconded him: "It's fantastic that Lithuania is going in this direction and paying such attention to Japan. We need to make even more use of the coziness of our country, the naturalness of nature, closeness to people, wide spaces and the opportunity to be alone, because the Japanese love nature more than cities. This is also related to the Japanese interest in natural goods, such as honey, tea herbs, and original works of designers. Also, Japanese tourists are attracted by the "wow" factor, for example, frosts, the Mountain of Crosses and everything else that can positively surprise with its unusualness."
Great attention will be paid to the Japanese market on October 9-13. at the Baltic Connecting 2018 event of the three Baltic countries, which will be held for the first time in Vilnius. At the contact fair and sightseeing tours together with Chinese, JAV and 10 Japanese tour operators will participate as representatives of South Korea.
"The Japanese enter into business relations with great reserve, but once they have decided to cooperate, they are reliable and long-term partners. As far as we know, the number of Japanese tour operators offering travel packages in Lithuania is increasing, as are the services they offer, for example, a visit to the Kaziuk fair is increasingly included in travel packages at the request of tourists, because handicrafts, folk art, and crafts are very important to the Japanese. Of course, the importance of more convenient transportation cannot be denied - although we have many air connections ("Finnair" from Japan flies via Helsinki, "LOT" - via Warsaw, "SAS" - via Copenhagen, "Lufthansa" - via Frankfurt, "Tukrish Airlines" - via Istanbul, etc.), but tourists always prefer a direct connection," points out Olga Gončarova, head of the Department of Tourism's Inbound Tourism Sub-Department, who coordinates tourism marketing in the Japanese market.
s.m. In October, a publication will be published in the flight magazine of the Japanese airline JAL "Skywards", whose representatives participated in the familiarization tour organized by the invitation of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Japan and the Department of Tourism.
According to the statistics of accommodation establishments, in the first half of this year, 11,7 thousand people traveled in Lithuania with at least one overnight stay. tourists from Japan, i.e. as much as 20,4 percent. more than last year in the same period.
