JNTO and Silversea team up for Cruise Japan event

JNTO and Silversea team up for Cruise Japan event
By Alexandra Coulton


JNTO and Silversea Cruises have teamed up for an exclusive evening showcasing the very best of Japan.

Off the back of Japan’s borders reopening in October, Japan National Tourism Organization and the luxury cruise line hosted a packed room of travel agents and select media at the Hilton, Sydney on Wednesday night to provide updates on this spectacular destination.

Kicking off with an enthralling taiko drumming performance, attendees received valuable destination updates from JNTO’s business development and marketing manager, Sally Miles as well as a rundown of Silversea’s all-inclusive cruises to Japan from the cruise line’s director of sales, Steve Richards.

Silversea’s director of sales, Steve Richards

“For the 2023 season we’ve got two beautiful ships set to circumnavigate Japan, the Silver Whisper at 400 passengers and Silver Muse at 600 passengers,” Richards said.

“Japan is the perfect country to circumnavigate and can be beautifully taken in via 10 different ports.”

Among the 24 voyages in Asia included in Silversea’s 2022-2023 collection, the cruise line’s ships will embark on 11 new voyages in Japan, including a brand new itinerary through Japan and South Korea.

A special taiko drumming performance featuring JNTO’s Sally Miles

Just under half (45 to 48 per cent) of the 600,000 Australians who travelled to Japan in 2019 had visited the country before, according to JNTO’s research, proving that Aussies can’t seem to get enough of the Land of the Rising Sun.

According to Miles, this is because of Japan’s iconic omotenashi – the Japanese spirit of hospitality that imbues all of Japanese culture.

“It’s not just when you walk into a hotel or a restaurant, it’s everywhere,” she said.

Japan is home to 25 UNESCO World Heritage sites, ranging from places like Mount Fuji, to the country’s temples and shrines, castles, villages and even food.

“Washoku Japanese food is actually an intangible World Cultural Heritage, so you could go to Japan and look at its UNESCO World Heritage sights, sleep in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and then eat Japanese food and EAT World Heritage, which I think is pretty cool,” Miles said.

JNTO has also been working on promoting sustainable travel in Japan through collaboration with local governments across the country to pull together a selection of their best sustainable travel experiences, which you peruse HERE.

Check out more images from the night in the gallery below:

Featured image: JNTO’s business development and marketing manager, Sally Miles

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