Tokyo, January 22, 2018 - Rakuten Communications, a subsidiary of global innovation leader Rakuten Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, today announced the launch of its tourism and information smartphone service 'J-TripGateway'. This mobile advertising service will provide foreign tourists to Japan internet access in a new and entertaining way.

J-TripGateway combines a prepaid SIM card with a sightseeing information smartphone app which allows visitors to Japan to 'earn' mobile data by viewing advertising content on their smartphones before and during their stay in Japan. Advertising content partners include Taiwan tourist activity booking service KKday Tours, as well as Rakuten services Voyagin and Rakuten Ticket, and tour and sightseeing information provided by travel companies in Japan.

Rakuten Communications will start to sell pre-paid J-TripGateway SIM cards online on AeroBile.com in Taiwan beginning today and, at a later date, through Rakuten Taiwan Ichiba, other e-commerce enterprises and travel agencies in Taiwan. Plans to expand the service across Asia, Europe and the Americas in the future are also under consideration.

As the number of tourists visiting Japan has increased steadily in recent years, the strategic promotion of tourism has been positioned as an important policy for economic growth. The Tourism Vision to Support the Future of Japan announced by the Japanese government is targeting the number of visitors to increase to 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030. Almost half (46.1%) of foreigners visiting Japan have identified free Wi-Fi access as an important service to make their stay in Japan more convenient, (Note), suggesting there is a strong need for easy and convenient internet access when visiting Japan.

Through offering J-TripGateway, Rakuten Communications is aiming to contribute to the growth of the tourism industry in Japan by providing tourists with convenient mobile internet access as well as connecting regional governments and domestic and foreign corporations looking to promote their services and information with foreign travelers visiting Japan.

Rakuten Inc. published this content on 22 January 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 January 2018 06:04:08 UTC.

Original documenthttps://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2018/0122_01.html?year=2018&month=1&category=ec

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