Japan’s Nippon Travel Agency has announced it has acquired a major stake in Indonesia based corporate travel firm Jabato International.
Nippon Travel said it has purchased 75% of the company for an undisclosed amount estimated at several hundred million yen, according to a report by the Nikkei Asia Review.
Jabato, which is affiliated to Japanese firm Toray Industries, primarily organises corporate travel for Japanese executives doing business in Indonesia.
Nippon Travel now plans to leverage Jabato’s relationships with Indonesian travel agencies as a platform to increase sales of outbound leisure trips to Japan.
In the past year the weakening Japanese yen coupled with tourist visa reform has fuelled a near 30% increase in the number of Indonesians visiting Japan.
Despite online travel companies gaining market share in Indonesia, brick and mortar travel agencies are still the preferred method for booking overseas trips.
Nippon Travel was established more than a century ago and has offices in major markets throughout Asia Pacific and North America.
