With summer (also known as the green season) in Japan full of festivals, outdoor events and enjoying nature, the Japan National Tourist Organisation (JNTO) is promoting a new service for overseas visitors, Luggage-Free Travel (LFT).
LFT, a new service by JTB, lets visitors to Japan use an online process to send their luggage to some 12,000 accommodation facilities and airports in Japan that are part of the JTB network. The service helps reduce the hassle of carrying heavy baggage during the transit stages of travel.
Those using the new service can send their luggage from the airport to their hotel, from hotel to hotel or from hotel to the airport with same-day or next-day delivery.
JTB advises visitors wishing to use LFT to:
- Visit the LFT website and enter information such as the time and date of luggage drop-off and your hotel.
- Once your booking is complete, you will be issued a QR code and reservation number.
- When dropping off your luggage, show the QR code or reservation number to staff.
July heralds the start of the climbing season of Mt Fuji, fireworks fill the sky and summer festivals kick off with a flair only found in Japan.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that about 28.7 million tourists visited Japan in 2017 – an increase of more than 20 million over just five years, the largest ever recorded. The UNWTO considers any overnight stay by a foreigner a tourist visit.
Despite all that, it’s easy to escape the tourist hordes. Less than 2% of all visitors to the Tohoku region are international travellers. If clients want to visit an area in Japan relatively free from international tourists, the Tohoku region is the place to go.
It’s not tucked away. Tohoku is a region of stunning natural beauty found just to the north of Tokyo. Made up of six prefectures (Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata), the region offers hot springs, snow-clad mountains, ancient castles and temples perched precariously on mountainsides.
Written by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}