Avanti and the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) are helping travel advisors craft independent travel (FIT) itineraries that minimize or avoid stays in heavily touristed destinations along Japan’s “Golden Route”—Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
In 2025, managing tourist crowds will be even more challenging as Osaka hosts the World Expo from April 13 to October 13. To provide alternatives, Avanti offers 17 off-the-beaten-path destinations across Japan, with more than 170 hotels, 80+ tours and experiences and 13 vacation packages that extend beyond the Golden Route.
Add-on experiences cater to various interests, including active travel, wellness, local cuisine, wildlife, art and design, traditional crafts, history, gardens, shrines, temples and shopping. Avanti’s offerings include fully customized vacations and new non-customizable fixed-price options.
Resources for Advisors
To familiarize advisors with lesser-known destinations, Avanti and JNTO have developed an expanded 50-page, e-brochure, Japan: A World Apart, accessible here.
Additional tools include:
- A new microsite: Explore Here
- A recorded webinar: Watch Now
“Japan has been our best-selling Asian country for several years, and because of its popularity, we urge advisors to book as early as possible at least five or six months ahead of travel,” said Paul Barry, Avanti’s CEO, in a press statement. “Most bookings—whether for complete FIT vacations or pre-/post-cruise—focus on Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.
“The objective of this campaign is to go beyond those three most popular cities and help clients discover one or more of the less-traveled, less-touristed places that can provide a more relaxing and authentic experience, as well as gain insight into a culture that has withstood many outside influences,” he added.
Key itinerary highlights include:
- Gotta Go to Nagano (5 days/4 nights): Private tours of the snow monkey park, soba-making class, shrine visits and high-speed Shinkansen travel.
- Ultimate Japan (14 days/13 nights): Visits to Hakone, Takayama, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Kyoto with private tours, rail travel, daily breakfast and flexible hotel options.
- Beauty of Japan by Rail (10 days/9 nights): A customizable journey featuring Nagano, Kanazawa, Tokyo and Kyoto with private guided tours, sushi-making and snow monkey park visits.
Some of the destinations beyond the Golden Route include:
- Aomori: Relatively unexplored, Aomori is surrounded on three sides by the ocean with mountains and river valleys.
- Hakone: Famous for its open-air museum of art (over 300 works by Picasso) and sculptures.
- Kamakura: Site of the nation’s second tallest Buddha statue and many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
- Matsumoto: Another gateway to the Japan Alps, home to Japan’s oldest extant castle, and the birthplace of avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama.
- Obuse: A small, charming town where famed woodblock artist Hokusai lived, near the snow monkey park and hot springs. The best time to see the monkeys bathing in the hot springs is December through March.
- Sapporo: Located on Japan’s northernmost island known for its volcanos and hot springs, home to a beer museum and annual snow festival, as well as an ideal place to ski.
For additional information on booking unique experiences and custom-built, multi-destination FIT or group travel log onto Avanti’s travel agent portal: book.avantidestinations.com.
