Using Blog Watcher's people flow data Japan Tourism Promotion Association's "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" Officially Released

Blog Watcher, Inc. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Sheng Niimura; hereinafter "Blog Watcher") is pleased to announce the official release of the "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" provided by the Japan Tourism Promotion Association and utilizing our human flow data. This will make it easier for local governments to grasp the number of domestic residents visiting tourism in a timely manner and promptly implement and evaluate measures.

This data is presented as one of the means to grasp the number of visitors to Japan in the Japan Tourism Agency's "Common Standard Survey Guidelines for Tourism Visitor Statistics (revised in 2023)," and is expected to replace existing statistics, promote EBPM, and be used for tourism DX and other purposes.

Digital Tourism Statistics

What is "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data"?

Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" is data on the number of visitors to tourist destinations in all prefectures and municipalities in Japan, compiled on a monthly basis, using human flow (location information) data held by Blog Watcher. The data on the number of tourism visitors is centralized. This will make it easier for local governments to grasp the number of domestic residents visiting tourism in a timely manner and promptly implement and evaluate measures, thereby contributing to the creation of sustainable tourism destinations.

Background of the Official Release of "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data

In providing the data, the definition of tourists and sightseeing spots was examined by the Digital Tourism Statistics Development Review Committee, which included the Japan Tourism Agency as an observer, and the accuracy of the data was verified with existing tourism statistics provided by each prefecture.

Items Provided ： Number of tourists (domestic) by prefecture and municipality

Data used: Human flow data provided by Blog Watcher*.

Period of provision: January 2021 onward (updated monthly for the most recent month)

Frequency of updating locations: Once a year (registration and updating of sightseeing locations by prefectures)

Start of provision : October 2023 (trial version), September 24, 2024 (final version)

URL: https://www.nihon-kankou.or.jp/home/jigyou/research/d-toukei/

Press release announcing the trial version: https://www.blogwatcher.co.jp/news/-gzZwIoe

* Monthly totals of unique numbers of visitors to predetermined survey points by prefecture and municipality, using smartphone location data obtained with prior permission from users, are processed in such a way that individuals cannot be identified.

Features of "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data

After verification and confirmation by academics and local governments to the "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" (trial version), which was launched in October 2023, its practicality and reliability as tourism statistics data have been improved. In addition, the Japan Tourism Agency's "Common Criteria Survey Guidelines for Tourism Visitor Statistics (2023 Revision)" presented the data as a means of understanding the number of visitors to Japan. The data is also linked to data visualization services and tools related to tourism, and is being disseminated in a form that is easy to use.

Features of "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data

(1)Approximately 70% of prefectures recognize the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the data.

For the "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" (trial version), which will be available in October 2023, a total of 60,000 tourist spots have been set up across the country after the staff of 32 prefectures confirmed the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the locations of the tourist spots. This has enabled us to provide tourist visitor counts that appropriately reflect the actual conditions of the regions.

(2) Academic experts recognize the validity

The effectiveness of this open data as tourism statistics has been recognized by the "Committee for the Development of Digital Tourism Statistics" through comparative verification with existing tourism statistics for all prefectures by the academic community and local governments.

(3) Can be used as a means of understanding the number of visitors to Japan

The "Survey Guidelines" provided by the Japan Tourism Agency to all prefectures lists the number of visitors (actual number of people) as the only open data that can be used to compile the number of visitors. It is expected to be used as a substitute for existing statistics, to promote EBPM, and for tourism DX.

(4) Linkage to data visualization services and tools such as Odekake Watcher and National Tourism DMP

Linkage with various data visualization services and tools, such as "Odekake Watcher," a tourism flow monitoring service, and "Japan Tourism Promotion Digital Platform (National Tourism DMP)," which incorporates a wide range of tourism information on lodging, human flow, and consumption, is also being promoted.

Local governments and DMOs can register "Odekake Watcher" free of charge to view and analyze daily data, which is the basis of open data for digital tourism statistics, on a weekly basis.

Future Prospects

The DMO and the DMOWATCHER will continue to collaborate to "disseminate and establish the use of digital technology and data," "collaborate and strengthen local tourism-related organizations," "develop human resources and promote inter-regional exchange," and "preserve and utilize local resources" through the use of open data on digital tourism statistics, in order to maximize profits for tourism-related businesses and other local communities as a whole, develop human resources who will lead the future, and promote the sustainable development of the region. The goal is to create a sustainable tourism destination by developing human resources who will be responsible for the future of the region, including tourism-related businesses.

Message from Mr. Shinmura, President and Representative Director of Blog Watcher

Blog Watcher President and Representative Director

In an age when society and business are changing rapidly and are difficult to predict, I believe that the key is to quickly identify signs and respond to them. In the tourism domain, it is important to digitize tourism statistics that enable us to grasp the situation.

In fact, the number of users of "Digital Tourism Statistics," in which Blog Watcher's human flow data is used, has already spread to 500 municipalities and organizations. ** We are very pleased to see many success stories emerging from our advanced efforts, such as tourism operators optimizing their staffing and service delivery. We will continue to do our utmost to use data to build "a society where efforts are rewarded" and "a social infrastructure where a bright future can be shared together.

**The 500 local governments and organizations that use "Digital Tourism Statistics" are the total number of users of various tools and platforms such as "Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data," "Odekake Watcher," and "National Tourism DMP" that use "Digital Tourism Statistics" data. Digital Tourism Statistics Open Data" indicates "Digital Tourism Statistics" that are open to the public in a form that anyone can use free of charge via the Internet, etc.

■Digital Tourism Statistics Development Study Committee Chairperson

Message from Professor Tetsuo Shimizu, Department of Tourism Science, Faculty of Urban Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan University

Mr. Tetsuo Shimizu, Chairperson of the Study Committee for the Development of Digital Tourism Statistics

Over the past 10 years, many local governments, DMOs, and tourism associations have shown great interest in using travelers' location information to develop tourism regions, but there have been major problems in terms of processing technology and cost effectiveness. As a first step toward solving this problem, the study committee took on the challenge of compiling location data statistics in accordance with the Japan Tourism Agency's "Common Criteria for Tourism Visitor Statistics," and has now made the data publicly available.

As chairperson of the committee, I hope that the database will continue to be improved by reflecting the opinions of users and become more useful for everyone.

About Blog Watcher

Company name: Blog Watcher, Inc.

Representative: Sho Shinmura, President and Representative Director

Location: Hulic Ginza 7-chome Bldg. 4F, 7-3-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan

Establishment ：April 2007

Company Profile: Joint venture between Recruit and Dentsu.

　　　　　Provides one-stop services for collection, analysis, and utilization of location information data,

　　　　　The company is a leading location information company that provides a one-stop shop for the collection, analysis, and utilization of location information data.

Service Lineup

Profile Passport SDK: Smartphone application development tool

Profile Passport DMP: A platform for holding large-scale data

Profile Passport AD: Advertisements utilizing location-based data

URL: https://www.blogwatcher.co.jp/

＜About the location data to be used

Blog Watcher uses only the data of users who have downloaded the affiliated apps and have given permission for location data acquisition. We do not collect personal information.

For more information on data acquisition and utilization, please see here.

https://www.blogwatcher.co.jp/terms/

The information in this press release is current as of the date of the announcement and is subject to change without notice. Please note that the information in this press release is current as of the date of the announcement and may be subject to change without notice.