Teruo Inoue, Chairman
In recent years, amid cries for true internationalism,
the number of Japanese traveling abroad has reached
close to 17 million people a year. There are now
many reasons for Japanese to go abroad: on business,
to study, for training, and to inspect and observe
to name but a few. Increasing varieties in travel
destinations and traveling styles are now more
obvious than ever.
As though paced by the accelerating development
of the Internet, buying flight tickets and traveling
abroad becomes easier by the day and an integral
part of life. The potential traveler has the choice
of buying tickets at travel agencies, convenience
stores, through magazines or via the Internet.
But, while travel itself becomes simpler, with
more people traveling to more places, potential
dangers such as becoming ill, getting hurt,
or being involved in an accident, increase at
the same time. In a country where the language,
culture, customs and countless other factors
differ from one's own, all manner of troubles
could lie ahead. This is particularly true for
the increasing number of travelers who purchase
flight tickets directly rather than via a travel
agency, since for them, once trouble starts,
there is no support structure in the destination
to help deal with it.
This has led the Overseas Tour Operators Association
of Japan (OTOA) to set up a website with the
latest information concerning public safety
abroad, utilizing our unrivaled network of 811
bases in 245 cities across 80 countries. There
is no other site as detailed as ours, packed
with city-by-city data on travel precautions,
dealing with potential problems, hospital locations,
how and where to buy over-the-counter medicinal
drugs etc. We sincerely believe that there is
something helpful for every overseas traveler
on our site.
You'll also find listings of OTOA member companies,
and we will keep our site updated with reliable,
practical and up-to-the minute information for
overseas travelers.
We hope you'll find some useful information
for your next trip, and maybe get an idea of
what our members do, or could do, to improve
your travel life. So, check it out!
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