JTB and Veltra form a capital and business alliance in the travel activity business

Aiming to provide thrilling experiences and valuable time at travel destinations

[Tokyo, 17 January 2023] -- JTB and Veltra have entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with the aim of promoting and expanding tours & activity businesses for the Japanese outbound market.

The recent shift in the travel landscape towards individualized travel and dynamic packaging has led to an increase in free time available at destinations, compared with the traditional guided tours. Accordingly, the tour & activity market is expected to grow significantly in the future, particularly in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

JTB has developed its own brand of overseas local optional tours for Japanese people, MyBus, which has been offered to customers mainly as a way of spending time during free time in travel products such as Look JTB. Meanwhile, Veltra has established a dominant position in the Japanese market as a website specializing in activity bookings, with a diverse line-up of over 16,000 local experiences in 150 countries and a system optimized for the Japanese market.

The two companies have built a partnership over many years in local tour sales and system collaboration, and have now entered into a capital and business alliance with the aim of providing customers with ever more valuable experiences by utilizing the experience and know-how of both companies, including JTB's global network of offices and purchasing and product development capabilities and Veltra's digital marketing capabilities.

Specific implementation items include;

Development of various activities by utilizing the purchasing and product development capabilities of JTB's local offices and Veltra's knowledge

New activities will be developed and existing activities will be improved by organizing projects involving personnel from both companies and analyzing market trends, trends and Veltra's extensive customer reviews. Furthermore, we will deliver valuable experiences to our customers by enhancing activities with accommodation and themed activities.

Linking JTB's tours & activity sales system with Veltra's system

JTB's sales system will be partially linked to Veltra's system, which will be renewed in the future, in order to utilize Veltra's IT technology. The aim is to improve the quality of the customer's purchasing experience through a simplified, digitalised booking flow, as well as to improve the sales efficiency of both companies.

Collaboration between the two companies will commence in February 2024, with the first step being to strengthen sales by improving existing activities. The development of new activities will be carried out in parallel, with sales planned to commence in 2025. In addition, as an initiative aimed at the rapidly increasing number of visitors to Japan, we will also consider collaboration between Veltra and JTB's Japan inbound-related products.

JTB and Veltra will continue to work together to create activities with unique experiences, so that customers around the world can continue to experience the joy of traveling the globe.

For press inquiry, please contact pr.jp@veltra.com