Japan's Tourism and Travel Industry: Job Opportunities, Salaries and Things to Know

Author: Putri Nurdivi | Published date: 17 February 2020

The Tourism Industry in Japan

Japan is certainly one of the top travel destinations for East Asia and tourists are flocking in from every corner of the world. With the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, Japan’s tourism sector continues to expand. Job opportunities are abundant for bilinguals and internationals in the tourism industry, so let’s jump right in to learning where and how to apply!

We already did an in-depth explanation regarding “What You Need to Know About Working in Japan’s Tourism Industry” to provide you with clear and fundamental knowledge about the industry, so make sure to check that article out as well.

Japan's Top Travel Agencies

JTB

The Japan Tourism Bureau (JTB) is undoubtedly the powerhouse of the Japanese tour and travel industry. As Japan’s biggest travel agency, JTB offers consumers a vast line of integrated travel services through their countless group companies to ensure the best possible service for your travel needs.

Employment Opportunities

Pre-entries for 2021 fresh graduates will start from March 2020 based on Rikunabi, and based on the previous years' information, pre-entries will close around May. Company information sessions also take place in March, while interviews are scheduled to start around the start of June. Official job offers will be released in mid-June.

They frequently hosts seminars and participate in events regarding their employments. Job hunters can subscribe to their Club JTB as a pre-entry and their selection flow is also explained in detail. Requirement varies for each sub-company but details are listed here. (Click here for JTB’s 2020 Fresh Graduate Career Link)

Internships

JTB also provides short-term and long-term internship programs such as 1-Day, 5-Day and the JTB-Group Internship for students aspiring to learn the ins-and-outs of the tourism industry. However, all the fundamental details are only available in Japanese. (Click here for full details of JTB’s Internship Programs)

Company Information and Salary

H.I.S.

Ever heard of the Japanese robot-operated hotel? The famous Hen-na Hotel is one of H.I.S’ subsidiaries. As a rival of JTB, this agency is intensively expanding their growth to catch up with its opponent. Other than their domestic rivalries with JTB, H.I.S also has branches and other various subsidiaries in different parts of the world.

Employment Opportunities

H.I.S offer two different routes which job hunters could take; the Business Leader and the Area Professional course which provides different field assignments. All job categories are open and other fields such as sales, IT staff, and accountants are also listed. Job vacancies in their overseas branches are listed separately in its respective branch websites. (Click here for the H.I.S’s recruitment site.)

Company Information and Salary

Japan's Top Hotels And Accomodations

Imperial Hotel (Teikoku)

The Imperial Hotel has a long history that stretches back as far as 1880 and is said to be the gosanke or one of the three great hotels of Tokyo. The main hotel which is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo sits comfortably in the proximity of the Imperial Palace. The hotel also has branches in Osaka and Nagano, and also has affiliate hotels in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Employment Opportunities

The Imperial Hotel offers two routes of employment which is the General and the “Senmon” (Specialty) course. Vacancies are available in the planning, marketing, operations, sales and management positions. Entries are registered in their MyNavi page. However, recruitments for fresh graduates of 2020 are already closed, but keep an eye out for 2021 applications! You can use the following sites for reference.

Application guidelines are available for viewing here. (Click here for Imperial Hotel’s recruitment site.)

Company Information and Salary

Okura Hotel

The Okura Hotel is also one of Tokyo hotels “Gosanke” along with the Imperial Hotel. In 2019, the old hotel was revamped and now rebranded under the name “The Okura Tokyo”. The Okura Hotel was mentioned in pop-culture works such as in Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84” or Ian Fleming’s “You Only Live Twice”, where the famous James Bond stayed at the Okura. Currently, the Okura Group has diversified their brand to the Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City.

Employment Opportunities

Similar to the Imperial Hotel, recruitments for 2020 fresh graduates are currently closed. However, a list of vacancies in Okura Hotel’s group, affiliates or overseas branches are listed here. Application guidelines and other details are listed in this page. 

Click here for Okura Hotel’s recruitment site.

International Hotels

Other global hotel brands such as the Hyatt group, Hilton group, ANA-Intercontinental, and Ritz-Carlton also exists but they generally do not follow the traditional Japanese shuukatsu flow since their recruitment page is usually redirected to their respective group’s international site.

We have provided you with their websites below for reference.

Click here for Hyatt group’s career page

Click here for Hilton group’s career page

Click here for ANA-Intercontinental’s career page

Click here for the Marriott Group’s career page

Travel Technology

Aside from just the traditional travel agencies or hotels, you actually have another option because of modern times--travel technology.

With the IT Business on the rise, several travel technology firms such as Agoda, Booking.com or Expedia are also expanding their businesses into Japan. The online travel agency, Agoda, actually attended CFN’s 2019 Winter Career Forum and are searching for a Customer Service Specialist to be stationed in Yokohama. Other job listings of Agoda in Japan are available here.

Quite similarly, these travel technology firms are more progressive than the previous mentions which means recruiting is commonly done throughout the year. Employment opportunities or internships are often published through LinkedIn as well. So make sure to check on their LinkedIn pages or do a quick search on jobs.

You can check out what jobs are currently available through the links below. They are often updated so make sure to check often too!

Click here for Booking.com’s career listing.

Click here for Expedia group’s Japan career listing.

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There you have it! You can use this guide as a starting point for which companies you can make your applications to, and once you do, you are at least armed with more information so you don't send in that resume empty-handed. As long as there are tourists and travelers, there will be people working in the travel industry, so why not consider it as a possible career option?

Good luck!