Forged in 2012 after the tsunami, event returns to rally industry
WiT Japan & North Asia, which was founded in 2012 to rally the industry after the Tohuku earthquake and tsunami in March the previous year, will return to Tokyo on November 5.
“We were forged out of a crisis, and we return in November 2020 to again rally the industry together after this mother of all crises, which has been devastating but will make us stronger and more resilient,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder, WiT.
She added, “We are encouraged by the fact that the Japanese government has announced new rules for events from June and by the time we return, travel, which has been placed in a coma with Covid-19, would have recovered and imagine, the lessons, experiences and battle scars we will be able to share.”
The Japanese government’s new rules for events in June are as follows:
- Till June 18: Can be run with less than 100 people or 50% of capacity of venue.
- Till June 30: Can be run with less than 1,000 people or 50% of capacity of venue.
- Till July 31: Can be run with less than 5,000 people or 50% of capacity of venue.
Indeed, it is markets in North Asia which are leading the recovery of travel, with China leading the way in domestic travel resurgence.
Forward Keys, the travel analytics company, reported on 29 May that domestic air travel in China has now reached more than 50% of what it was at the equivalent moment in 2019, based on issued air tickets. In addition, analysis of flight ticketing data reveals a significant uptick in last-minute domestic flight bookings in China between May 11 and May 21.
Markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have been cited as examples that have contained the pandemic well, and have also seen early green shoots.
Said Kei Shibata, co-founder of WiT Japan & North Asia, and CEO of LINE TRAVEL.jp and Trip101, “Everything seems to be going against all of us in the travel industry. The silver lining of all of this is that people around the world have gone online en masse. They are now, more than ever, ready to accept new technology and innovations.
“WiT Japan & North Asia has always been designed to help us look into the future of travel with technology and innovation. It is now a perfect time for us to fill this role.”
Added co-founder Aya Aso, CEO of Savvy Collective, “Although this Covid-19 pandemic has had an unexpected impact on the travel industry around the world, what we have seen through past pandemics, terrorist attacks and many natural disasters is that our travel industry has always recovered and transformed through it.
“We have proven that in the origin of WiT in Japan back in 2012. Our motivation to gather travel industry leaders back then was to move ourselves forward after the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake.
“WiT Japan & North Asia 2020 is already transformed in a way to look our “new” future. I look forward to meeting the WiT community in November.”
Since the pandemic started, WiT has been running its “Unity In Crisis” series through the WiT Podcast and WiT Virtual events.
On June 24, 5pm-11pm (GMT+8), it will unite the world of online travel in the six-hour WiT Virtual Summit, where it will gather travel industry leaders from across the globe to share their battle stories of survival and innovation, and insights into what travel will look like.
It will host a WiT Virtual Japan & North Asia on July 3, 4pm-5pm (GMT+8).
