European Tourism Association (ETOA) to hold business meetings to help revive the Japanese market and propose four themes, including stronger efforts to attract visitors to four Central European countries and “environmentally friendly travel”

ETOA co-hosted a B2B business meeting event for the Japanese market with Discover Central Europe and MIKI Tourist. It also held a joint workshop featuring 4 Central European countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia—to promote interaction between Japanese and European tourism businesses.

Although the weak yen, higher prices and changes to air routes are affecting travel trends in the Japanese market, Japanese visitors to Europe are expected to recover over the long term, highlighting the importance of sustained engagement.

The attractions of the 4 Central European countries include their relatively low visitor numbers and many unexplored aspects, and they were described as offering historical, architectural and artistic resources suited to Japanese visitors. The number of Japanese visitors to Hungary and Poland is expected to rise by approximately 30% year on year in 2025.

Visit Europe outlined a plan to promote “4 themes” in the Japanese market and strengthen cooperation with Japanese travel companies. Through initiatives that emphasise environmentally friendly transport and local community engagement, it will seek to spread travel across different periods and attract visitors to new destinations.