In the 23rd installment of this series, we spoke with Ryoma Arai (53), branch manager of the HIS Sao Paulo branch.
When HIS, one of Japan's leading travel agencies, opened a branch in São Paulo in 2010, it left an impression on Japanese people living in Brazil that Japan and Brazil had become closer. With the travel industry being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company continues to take on new challenges in order to survive in businesses other than travel.
Travel agencies enter a new era
The HIS São Paulo branch is located in an office building adjacent to Shopping Center 3, which is bustling with young people, less than a minute's walk from the Consolacão metro station. The office is a co-working space, which is a big change from the traditional travel agency style of always meeting customers at the counter. When the company was first established, it handled customer inquiries at a counter in a commercial facility, but even before the COVID-19 pandemic, inquiries and travel reservations were increasingly being handled exclusively by email and social media, and the pandemic has only further accelerated this trend.
While face-to-face consultations are also available through advance reservations and walk-ins, there is a growing need to make travel arrangements online due to the convenience of the Internet and in São Paulo to avoid security risks.
Our journey as a venture in the travel industry
Founded in 1980, HIS was a pioneer in the sale of low-cost air tickets as a venture in the travel industry. Arai joined the company in 1992, and the following year the company began to attract a lot of attention, and it has continued to take on new challenges, such as expanding into domestic and international hotel businesses, and announcing the establishment of Skymark Airlines (now a separate entity) in 1996.
When the company entered Brazil in 2010, it had plans to expand to 1,000 stores both domestically and overseas, and Arai has been posted to Macau, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Vladivostok, Saipan, and other locations since 2005, aiming to expand travel for Japanese people and foreign visitors to Japan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company also worked on importing specialty products from Azerbaijan, and was posted to São Paulo in November 2022.
Many of the places he has been assigned to so far have deep ties to Japan, so there are always people nearby who can speak Japanese, and the Japanese community in São Paulo is similar in that respect. "Brazil has a history of Japanese immigration, and in order to make further inroads in the local community and do things that are deeply rooted here, we are entering an era in which companies will be run by people who are born and raised locally and know Brazil," Arai says, looking ahead to the future.
Intelligence is the key to survival
As of October 2023, HIS is introducing and arranging tours, utilizing its network of 162 locations in 113 cities in 58 countries around the world and 134 locations in Japan. In Brazil, it offers package tours and options for classic sightseeing in Brazil and other South American countries for Japanese expatriates and tourists.
In addition, they also offer weekend bus tours around São Paulo in response to customer requests. Services for Brazilians began with the sale of Japan Rail Passes, and in recent years they have also launched plans to please foreign visitors to Japan, such as "cherry blossom tours" from March to April and tickets to leisure facilities.
With the spread of the Internet and changes to the business model of airline ticket sales, smart online business models have become common in the travel industry due to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We live in an age where travel agencies are being eliminated, but the information needed for travel can mean both information and intelligence. Our strength since the company was founded has been not only providing information that can be obtained online, but also intelligence that can only be known by going to the location," says Arai.
The quarterly magazine "Vamos!" is published four times a year and contains local travel information for South America as well as additional information about life in São Paulo.
"TAKOYAKI8" gains popularity amid COVID-19 pandemic
In the 44 years since HIS was founded, the travel industry has been shocked by events such as the Gulf War and the September 11 attacks, but the COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed all previous events. In order to survive future crises and changes in the times, HIS opened TAKOYAKI8 in the Liberdade district of São Paulo in 2019, and after receiving positive feedback for its takeout and iFood during the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened a second store in the Bella Vista district in October last year.
Since September 30th of last year, visa exemptions have been mutually implemented between Japan and Brazil for those holding ordinary passports for visits of up to 90 days. With travel to Japan now easier, it is expected that even more Brazilians will travel to Japan, and the company aims to support travel that is "exciting."
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Overview of HIS Sao Paulo branch |
*This article is reprinted from the Brazil Nippo (March 2, 2024).
© 2024 Tomoko Oura
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