TRADE & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

INDIGO Trade & Government Relations

Managing BtoB strategies that adhere to regional regulations and cultural guidelines.

In addition to English and Japanese fluency, INDIGO understands that differences in culture and business practices are necessary for effective communication in international BtoB programs.

INDIGO is proficient in global and Japanese trade distribution systems along with negotiation tactics applicable to Japanese governments and tourism organizations.

Trade engagement in the industry and new business leads from Japanese public RFPs are integral to INDIGO’s BtoB strategy.

These are supported by trade partnership skills, destination training, destination product sales, tie-ins, marketing campaigns, trade media relations, project proposal development, pitches, and others.

Visit National Parks of Japan

Case study:

Japan Ministry of Environment
Selection committee member for adventure travel development project in Japan national parks (2025)

Evaluation focus:

Consideration of natural environment
Alignment with national park-related plans
Nature-based experience and product values
Marketing plans including targeting, sales, and distribution
Branding and local benefits by adventure travel promotion

Selected National Park areas and proposed project themes:

Kushiroshitsugen N.P., Kushiro wetland tourism experience
Sanriku Reconstruction N.P., Long trail to connect regions and hikers
Bandai-Asahi N.P., Dewa three mountains adventure travel and Fukushima volcano journey
Joshinetsu N.P., Nature-positive experience of volcano and villagers
Chichibu-Tama-Kai N.P., New experience in the Chichibu-Tama-Kai N.P.
Chubusangaku N.P., Japan Alps tour and Kita Alps traverse route
Ise-Shima N.P., Accessible adventure tour
Setonaikai N.P., Cycling Adventure around Japan inland sea area
Unzen-Amakusa N.P., New experience based on Unzen onsen region interpretation plan
Aso-Kuju N.P., Japan volcanic tourism
Yambaru N.P., Sustainable ride tour

Case study:

Japan Ministry of Environment

Advisory panel for Ecotourism promotion basic policy 2025 (2025)

Role:

On a ministry advisory panel for their revision of the Ecotourism promotion policy, contributed expert insights based on experience-tested tourism destination marketing knowledge.

Key comments:

Clear understanding of differences and definitions between ecotourism and ecotours including nature programs, community-based tours, and other travel relevant products
Ecotourism as a tool to nurture and further develop local livelihoods
Destination marketing to assist travel service providers in ecotourism destinations
Building ecotourism destinations requires travel industry support, including tour guides and activity operators
Guides play an important role in ecotourism as story-tellers. Interpretive technique has a positive impact on both destinations and visitor experiences

Japan Ministry of Environment Advisory panel for Ecotourism promotion basic policy 2025 (2025)

Visit env.go.jp

Visit Arigatotravel.com

Case study:

Kyoto OFF Tours and Arigato Travel Kyoto Western Light Tour, Off-the-beaten-path new tour product sales promotion partnership (2025)

Initiative:

Using INDIGO’s trade marketing expertise, connect two tour operators to enhance and compliment each other’s sales networks and unique travel products, better capturing market demands for off-the-beaten-path experiences.

B to B travel trade relationship building support for B to B to C sales promotion:

Develop sales promotion strategy by matching tour operators’ strengths and client demands for unique travel products
Consult tour operators to create most productive joint sales promotion plan
Assist tour operators with expert suggestions and advice
Follow up to plan and support next steps of business development

Case study:

ASEAN-Japan Centre ASEAN-JAPAN sustainable tourism best practices, project advisory (Joint project with Region Inc., 2024 – present)

Project background:

The ASEAN-Japan Centre promotes trade, investment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between Japan and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This project details best practices in sustainable tourism from Japan and ASEAN countries by compiling representative cases (approximately three per country) submitted by each nation from fiscal year 2024 to 2025, with the goal of contributing to the promotion of sustainable tourism in the region.

Objectives:

Organize sustainable tourism case studies by themes.

Case studies appropriately compiling information gathered through interviews are posted on a dedicated page of the Center’s website.

The primary audience is officials from government tourism-related agencies. By sharing knowledge, the project contributes to better policy development and the actualization of sustainable tourism in the Japan-ASEAN region. It is also expected that tourism businesses will be able to utilize this as a source for business insights.

Visit asean.or.jp

Case study:

Japan Tourism Agency

Expert committee for destination organization (DMO) capability development (2023 – 2025)

Role:

As a member of the committee entrusted by the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, contributed insights and knowledge about capability, global standard, organizational requirements, and other related issues for efficient international tourism management.

Opinions and suggestions from experience-tested tourism destination marketing:

Tourism destination development strategy
Advantage of different businesses working together as industry and community partnerships
Filling in gaps between government initiatives and the realistic situations of local destination for better functionality
Tourism education among community members and industry professionals
Utilize government support to develop destination capability
Evaluation of destination organizations’ abilities based on the official criteria prepared by the government

Outcome:

Dream Drive and Tokyu Hotels started exclusive business partnership for camper van guests.
Publicity created by its news value of hotel/facility package for road trip.
Converting interests of lifestyle market leader into actual travels through bookings for both Dream Drive and Tokyu Hotels
Tokyu Hotels can increase business at their restaurants and spas with more services offered to same-day customers.

Case study:

Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

JENESYS ASEAN-Japan youth exchange (2023 – 2024)

Role:

Tourism development lecturer for the international youth training program: pre-program thematic study, lecture and workshop during the study tour in Japan, as well as online alumni session.

Lecture and workshop:

Specific understanding of travel and tourism
Tourism destination marketing basics
Community-based tourism case studies
Communication based on interpretations skills
Widen views on tourism for sustainable inter-business community growth
Encourage developing strengths while taking advantage of opportunities for tourism destination development and growth

Learning and takeaways:

Positively impacted youth in their understanding of tourism destination marketing efficacy
Interest in community-based tourism as a rational way of sustaining local livelihood through tourism economy
Different methods and capacities for tourism development and sustainable community support

Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs JENESYS ASEAN-Japan youth exchange (2023 - 2024)

Case study:

Hong Kong Tourism Board Rebranding workshop (2021)

Marketing expert participation:

Selected by HKTB Head office as an international marketing expert, INDIGO took part in this immersion workshop representing the Japanese market.
The multifaceted workshop included areas such as: Dining, Arts and Culture, Tour operator, and Business. From both short-haul and long-haul markets: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, USA, and UK.
INDIGO contributed marketing insights including destination positioning and images, with key stories attractive to Japanese markets based on the Japanese outbound travel market trends.

New Hong Kong branding:

HKTB compiled and analyzed all insights from the workshop for best brand strategy.
“Hello Hong Kong” global branding was launched in 2022, with core pillars of creating benefits for tourists, locals, and partners.

Case study:

DREAM DRIVE AND TOKYU HOTELS JOINT MARKETING (2020-2021)

Initiative:

Out-of-box collaboration that creates higher value in the upcoming lifestyle trends through pandemic and beyond.

B to B relationship building and joint marketing initiative:

Identify advantage of scale for different businesses to work together
Marketing partnership concept preparation
BtoB relationship building
Strategic project idea proposal
Follow-up communication leading to next steps of project plans

Outcome:

Dream Drive and Tokyu Hotels started exclusive business partnership for camper van guests.
Publicity created by its news value of hotel/facility package for road trip.
Converting interests of lifestyle market leader into actual travels through bookings for both Dream Drive and Tokyu Hotels
Tokyu Hotels can increase business at their restaurants and spas with more services offered to same-day customers.

Photo courtesy of Shiro Tamura

Case study:

Air Canada destination marketing partnerships
(TSJ Director, 2017- March 2021)

Partnership:

Initiating marketing collaboration between international airline and destination for mutually beneficial BtoB tourism marketing, and coordinating projects for strategic partnership

BtoB relationship building and joint marketing:

Marketing partnership concept preparation
BtoB relationship building
Strategic project with timeline design
Project planning and operation support for effective BtoB engagement
Follow-up communication leading to next steps of project plans

Outcome:

Air Canada’s first Japanese regional destination partnership is now in effect
Joint marketing includes: strategic BtoB project plans, visual tool production, travel agent/tour planner destination education seminar, travel company manager destination inspection, new tour product development, media visit, and Air Canada offshore sales meeting at destination
Quality documentary produced with JbyJ. Canadian film team highlights traditional and local community life throughout generations while focusing on the destination’s agricultural specialty. They have thereby created destination management capability though production works with international film crew, thematic visual tool preparation for new travel product support; and branded the destination for green, wellness, health, authenticity, and Japanese tradition targeting premium travel markets in North America.
New tour itineraries have been in store by destination study trip participants, and group bookings contributed to tour company business and air seat sales.

Case study:

RideJapan Mount Fuji Three Peaks Tour (TSJ Director, 2018)

BtoB support:

Business partnership opportunity search
Facilitating project arrangement between Japanese municipalities/organizations and international tour operator
Necessary document preparation and application for approval of public road use
Onsite event management for better regional engagement and creating local motivation as well as guests’ better experiences

Outcome:

Through international travel event management, regional government learned to optimize their efforts by contributing to more effective media coverage and better customer engagement
Regional tourism office involved local cyclists and a traditional music performance team in the event, creating a mutual positive impact for better community partnerships as well as with International tour guests
High quality promotion video and visual assets were produced and created by Dreaming Big Media. These visual promotion tools were shared with regional tourism organizations for their thematic destination promotion purposes
The success of the event has served as a sales promotions for RideJapan. A wider variety of cycling tour products are prepared in store, leading to mutual gain for both the tour operator and the destination

Collaboration:

Support for BtoB relations and onsite event arrangement with Japanese regional government.

Video courtesy of RideJapan & Dreaming Big Media

Photos courtesy of Arigato Japan Food Tours

Case study:

Arigato Japan Food Tours (2017-2020)

Collaboration:

Consulting and support for product development, B2B services with the Japanese regional government.

BtoB consulting and support:

Business partnership opportunity search
Broker support for effective partnerships
Facilitating of primary meetings and project planning assistance between Japanese municipalities/organizations and international service provider
Follow-up meetings for better regional engagement and creating local motivation

Results:

Through local travel product development, regional government learned to optimize their budget with the real return of tangible tour packages, sales/distribution system introduction, and future booking promotions.
By jointly working with Arigato Japan Food Tours projects, regional tourism associations and individual players were encouraged to spontaneously continue their product support efforts.
Arigato Japan entered into global sales network of a key distributor due to new products developed with Japanese regional government.

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TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Responsible planning for sustainable development of communities through travel and tourism.

TOURISM DESTINATION MARKETING

Customising strategic approaches to maximise positive impacts of destination resources and global trends.

TRADE & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Managing B2B strategies that adheres to regional regulations and cultural guidelines.

PR & MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS

Interpreting partner needs with international insights and best matching with unique stories.

CREATIVE PRODUCTION

Engaging core markets with most effective ways for successful B2C communication.

SPECIAL PROJECTS & EVENTS

Strategic thinking from holistic views to achieve innovative synergy and productive outcome.

TRADE & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

INDIGO Trade & Government Relations

Case study:

Evaluation focus:

Selected National Park areas and proposed project themes:

Case study:

Role:

Key comments:

Case study:

Initiative:

B to B travel trade relationship building support for B to B to C sales promotion:

Case study:

Project background:

Objectives:

Case study:

Role:

Opinions and suggestions from experience-tested tourism destination marketing:

Outcome:

Case study:

Role:

Lecture and workshop:

Learning and takeaways:

Case study:

Marketing expert participation:

New Hong Kong branding:

Case study:

Initiative:

B to B relationship building and joint marketing initiative:

Outcome:

Case study:

Partnership:

BtoB relationship building and joint marketing:

Outcome:

Case study:

BtoB support:

Outcome:

Collaboration:

Case study:

Collaboration:

BtoB consulting and support:

Results:

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