Tourism, as a driver of massive human mobility, holds immense potential to contribute significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across economic, social, cultural, and environmental dimensions.

The United Nations designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. Since then, awareness of the role tourism should play in a "new normal" has expanded. This includes promoting local production and consumption, job creation, and fostering a shared understanding of diversity and peace through intercultural exchange. Furthermore, it has led to the development of action guidelines that encourage operational improvements toward global challenges, such as environmental awareness, natural resource utilization, and climate change. At the same time, there are growing concerns regarding "overtourism" and the degradation of tourism assets due to the significant and concentrated increase in global travelers.

In 2018, the year of our establishment, the Japan Tourism Agency set up the Sustainable Tourism Promotion Headquarters. With the formulation of the Japan Sustainable Tourism Standard for Destinations (JSTS-D) in June 2020, Japan's framework is steadily taking shape. Against this backdrop, our goal is to provide back-end support for regional tourism by sharing and collaborating on challenges as travel agencies and tour operators. We aim to strengthen sustainability through branding focused on visitors who share these values, attracting customers, and engaging in dialogue with tourism destinations, suppliers, residents, local governments, and DMOs.

Specifically, we facilitate the sharing of challenges faced by travel agencies, operators, and those involved in regional tourism. We contribute to sustainable tourism that benefits both the environment and society. As the Japan representative of Travelife, an international certification body based in the Netherlands, we engage in product development and sales under a unified brand. Our initiatives also include the trading of carbon credits through an online CO2 calculator, joint exhibitions at international travel fairs, and conducting lectures, training, and collaborative Fam trips in conjunction with events like Tourism EXPO Japan.

Towards 2030, we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a travel agency alliance and propose travel experiences that contribute to the healthy development of local communities.