You cannot imagine what a liberating feeling it is that I no longer have to go through the process since visa regulations were waived for travellers from South-east Asia.

This year, I can just get up and go – truly a rite of travel and the right thing to do for governments keen to increase their tourism. If you need to have visas, then at least make it easier – as Australia has done. It took me all of 10 minutes to renew my Australian visa online.

Like Australia, Japan has a tourism deficit – in other words, more Japanese travel out than foreigners travel in. It is true that Japan’s outbound has stagnated in recent years but in 2012, outbound departures actually climbed back to pre-2000 levels and saw a 8.8% growth to 18,490,657, according to data from JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organisation).

But in 2013, departures fell back by 5.5% to 17,472,748 – clearl it will take much more effort to get the Japanese outbound machine firing up again. Year to date figures are also slipping – February departures dropped 1.8% to 1,405,000. Numbersto Korea showed 16.7% decrease for 18 straight months. Thailand saw a drop of 27.7%, North Mariana (-25.0%) and Guam (-12.4%) as well. However, the number of travelers to Taiwan increased 31.4% for the six months running.

Low cost airlines operating out of more airports in Japan should help move people to neighbouring markets. In January 2014, the only airport that showed an increase in Japanese departures was Haneda – by 6.3% – totaling 194,847. Narita saw a drop of 7.1% to 571,602 that same month.

It is inbound though that Japan has to do more heavy lifting. Easing of visas will definitely help and for South-east Asians, Japan is definitely a desired destination – the food, the orderliness and graciousness of its people, the distinct culture and lately, the snow, are all appealing to folks who live in random chaotic, polluted cities.

The liberalisation is clearly is working. Preliminary estimates for 2013 show that arrivals for the first time breached the 10 million mark, reaching 10,363,904, a 24% increase over the year before. And the momentum seems to be holding – February 2014 saw a 20.6% increase over February 2012, the highest growth ever recorded for that month. Arrivals reached 880,000 that month and other than South Korea which showed a slight drop, all markets grew –  China (+92.0%), Taiwan (+48.3%) and Hong Kong (+45.9%). South-east Asia and Australia also performed well.

The ongoing discussions about a Singapore-style Integrated Resort with the possible legalization of gaming are also firing up people’s imaginations about what this could for Japanese tourism. Of course, as with Singapore, it has its naysayers but those for the development are already counting the dollars.

This report pegged Japan as the next Macau “which produced a record $45.2 billion in gaming revenue last year, but Singapore is a much better comparison.

“That market’s two casino-resorts produce almost as much in annual gaming revenue as Las Vegas, which topped $6.2 billion in 2012.” Union Gaming Group predicts the Japan market could produce $10 billion in annual gaming revenue. Other analysts go as high as $15 billion annually.”

It will be interesting to listen first-hand from industry players what’s happening in both Japan inbound and outbound at WIT Japanwhich opens May 15-16 in at the Hotel Nikko Tokyo (pictured above).

Beyond Japan, South Korea is emerging as a market of great interest to the online travel players. A hyper connected city, with the world’s fastest Internet speed, it appears ripe for a travel ecommerce boom. Yet as in Japan, distribution remains in the hands of traditional giants – but for how long?

During the “Insights into South Korea” panel, we will hear from Interpark, the Korean online auction and shopping mall, which has built up a substantial travel business and and HANATOUR, the largest travel company in the country, as well as Jeju Air, the largest low cost airline.

As of May 2, Interpark’s market cap stands at 739 billion won (US$722.7 million). In 2013, itachieved revenues of 385 billion won (US$376.5 million) with an EBITDA of 28.8 billon won (US$2.8 million). In terms of daily traffic, it gets 1.2 million UV and 90 million page views per day. Mobile forms 30% of registration rate, according to Wang Hee-Soon (left), senior manager of planning division, who will be speaking about its travel business at WIT Japan.

The group says it has more than 40% flight market share and more than 15% of the domestic hotel reservation market. So clearly, a new Internet travel giant in the making in one of the newest frontiers in online travel in Asia.

See you in Tokyo next week. Our Bootcamp opens May 15 and a ticket to WIT Japan gives you entry to this event which will feature the Start-Up Pitch.