In an effort to address Japan’s growing luxury tourism market, Bear Luxe Japan – an online platform and community of luxury travel suppliers and international buyers – has launched a B2B membership portal to better communicate, exchange services and develop partnerships between suppliers and buyers.
As luxury tourism grows alongside Japan’s inbound boom (with over 30 million overseas visitors expected this year, and a quadruple increase in per capita spending since 2012, according to JNTO), travel suppliers are naturally under pressure to capitalise on the influx.
Yet, connecting travel buyers and qualified suppliers to create products to cater to a luxury travel class has long been a challenge. According to Bear Luxe Japan, there is currently a lack of effective paths for communication and standardisation in payments and commission, making partnerships and collaborations unnecessarily difficult.
For example, buyers have indicated that communication with independent Japanese contractors is a particular challenge. Meanwhile, suppliers struggle to tap into the international travel trade market, due to factors like the absence of a standard payment and commission system.
Said Bear Luxe Japan co-founder and COO, Hiroyuki Miyatake, “Because Japan is a unique market with a lot of independent brands, buyers have told me that finding and contacting qualified suppliers has been an issue…. There is certainly a need for a trusted network and reliable platform.”
So, the company intends to act as a digital portal to ameliorate this. It aims to provide suppliers with access to marketing materials, inquiries, reservations and payments, that will help connect them with buyers more seamlessly. Doing so will allow these players to establish key relationships that will help develop their offerings to luxury travellers.
Bear Luxe Japan aims to grease these friction points by providing the tools and connections both buyers and suppliers need to establish better connections. For one, suppliers on the portal will get direct access to a dedicated editorial team that can create English-language luxury travel marketing and sales materials (presented in a standardised format) on their behalf.
“It is very difficult first to find qualified suppliers and second to contact and communicate with [those] suppliers,” said Miyatake. “When it comes to marketing materials, contents need to have key information and quality images to pitch to the client, but this may not always be the case. Then, when it comes to doing business, the buyers need to introduce the company, check the payment policies and commission polices…”
Providing this standardisation will help buyers to get a better grasp of the products available, contact the providers and transact their payments through the portal as well. Buyers receive a guaranteed minimum commission through an integrated commission processing service.
Bear Luxe Japan’s business model is based on an annual membership fee and a marketing fee, based on business generated within the member network.
There are approximately 100 international buyers and 20 member suppliers on the platform so far. According to Miyatake, these “include DMCs that specialise in shopping, luxury lifestyle, cultural experiences, Kyushu and visual documentation. Other suppliers include helicopters, regional chauffeurs, luxury boutique hotel, traditional machiya (townhouses), luxury villas, cultural experiences, private hair salons and others.”
Supplier membership on Bear Luxe Japan is by invitation only – one of the measures the company has taken to maintain high standards in service and quality.
“We invite accredited member buyers in the industry that suppliers could also rely on and be assured that member buyers will be committed to the business relationship.”
The portal is also intended as a platform for Japan’s traditional craftspeople and artisans to not just sustain but grow their industries by offering their products to new markets.
“Through this business, I hope to build an ecosystem that will contribute to local traditions, cultures and industries… demand for traditional arts and crafts among the younger generation has stagnated, but there is demand among overseas visitors to see and experience that side of Japan, if they can find a way to access it,” said Miyatake.
The end goal is to create “meaningful luxury travel experiences that support the further development of Japanese culture and tradition and sustain local industries.”
Lead photo: Kenji Kudo
