2014.09.08
OTS to launch new branch company in Singapore in October
Okinawa Tourist Service, OTS, will launch its second branch company overseas in Singapore this October. The new branch that follows the launch of the OTS Taipei office is tentatively called “OTS GLOBAL PTE Ltd.”
This will be the first overseas branch of any Okinawan tourism company. OTS aims to sell package tours to Okinawa and Hokkaido, and start a rental car reservation service.
OTS based in Singapore specifically aims to attract Muslim customers. In the South-Eastern Asia, demand to visit Japan is increasing among Muslims. Yoshikazu Higashi, the president of the OTS, will be appointed as the chief of the office, and a OTS company director, Yasushi Nakamura, and Koichiro Toyama, the Chief of WUB Singapore, will sit on board. The new company is capitalized at about Y17 million.
OTS has been focusing on the Muslim market since five years ago, and is a pioneer in that tourism sector in Japan. OTS has made a strong effort to send staff to Singapore continuously and attract Muslim visitors. OTS is planning to run twelve mutual charter flights by SilkAir and Jetstar Asia between Okinawa and Singapore starting Sep. 11th through next year. They are expecting to attract 3,600 customers.
Towards Hokkaido, OTS, will work to bring in tourists from the Asia region with a partner company, ZERO PLANNIG.
Okinawa Prefecture is planning to launch a Singapore office as well. Higashi says, “We will try to act as a bridge between Okinawa and Singapore in cooperation with the public sector.”