Business Overview
Yokohama City Visitors Bureau is engaged in a range of work to support business events and the tourism sector. Not only do we strive to attract tourists to the city, we promote the city as an ideal location for business events, undertake relevant marketing activities, and offer top-class hospitality. To do so, we make use of expertise from the private sector and maximize their resources to uncover new businesses.
1. Attracting Visitors from Home and Abroad
In tandem with our member companies, who range from those in the tourism industry to experts from other cities in the prefecture, we work to increase the number of visitors to the region from both Japan and abroad. In addition to gathering relevant information from overseas, we communicate the appeals of Yokohama and its surrounds through well-timed, targeted advertising and promotional work, all of which is specifically catered to visitors’ needs.
- Support the development of new tourist attractions and activities
- Attract educational trips through sales efforts across Japan
- Provide support and subsidies for travel trade professionals
- Accelerate promotion efforts to increase cruise ship visitors
- Develop new travel plans for Yokohama
2. Inviting and Supporting Business Events
Our expansive network of key persons aids in our efforts to bring medium- to large-scale international meetings to the city. Moreover, we team up with businesses in Yokohama to support incentive tours from overseas businesses, while offering excellent support programs that ensure the smooth running of events.
- Attract medium to large scale international meetings (International tradeshows, visits by key persons, site inspections, etc.)
- Undertake sales promotions that target organizers of business events in Japan and abroad
- Create networks that include local universities and research institutes
- Support business events held in the city (Utilizing the Yokohama MICE Support Plan)
- Develop offsite venues unique to Yokohama
3. Marketing and Publicizing Yokohama as the Ideal Destination for Tourism and Business Events
The YCVB undertakes target-specific marketing activities to attract tourists and business events to the city. We also maximize use of websites and social media to increase visitors to the region and uncover entirely new customer segments.
- Data analysis of tourism and business events
- Promotion of the Yokohama brand and the city as a premier destination
- Operation of the official website and social media outlets
- Development of media content
- Promotion to overseas media to raise the profile of Yokohama
4. Supporting Visitors and Creating Welcoming Environments
The YCVB provides optimal tourism information to ensure a comfortable stay for visitors to the city. We offer our support to the private sector and civic groups to ensure top-class hospitality for all who visit.
- Operate tourist information centers
- Create and distribute tourist information material (maps, guidebooks, etc.)
- Create comfortable environments for foreign visitors
- Support activities of volunteer groups
5. Collaborating with Private Businesses
Increasing numbers of visitors have given rise to accommodation and accessibility problems. The YCVB offers financial support to private tourism and MICE-related projects that help to alleviate these issues.
- Yokohama Creation Scrum Financial Support Project