Since the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, “online ○○” has become the buzzword in every industry.
The travel industry is no exception. Since 2020, many companies have started offering “online travel.” Without leaving home, you can enjoy the feeling of traveling around the world through online tours,
and they have actually been attracting a lot of attention as a new style of travel!
In this article, we’ll introduce the appeal of online travel, how to join, and which online travel services are best and more!
What Is Online Travel?
Online travel, as the name suggests, is online plus travel: a virtual trip that friends or couples in different places can join over the internet at the same time, chatting directly with a local guide.
Travel comes in many styles in the real world, and online travel is no different.
There are all kinds of tours: showing you a city in real time, strolling through towns, markets and churches, or lessons on how to brew coffee.
Some companies even send local specialty food in advance, so it really feels like you are traveling.
The Appeal of Online Travel
You can’t experience it with your own eyes and skin, so I imagine many people wonder, “Can online travel really be fun?”
Unlike real travel, online travel has several charms of its own, so let me introduce them.
Appeal 1: Low-Cost and Easy, Above All
A single trip usually costs tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen, depending on the destination and the number of days.
Online travel averages about 3,000 to 4,000 yen per tour. Some tours cost just 1,000 yen or are even free, and the benefit is that you can join easily, starting from just one hour per session!
The tours focus on major tourist cities and are built around World Heritage sites and famous sights, so you can see the highlights efficiently.
On location you would spend time on travel, research and transportation costs, but with online travel, naturally, none of that is needed!
Appeal 2: Join Anytime, Anywhere
For an overseas trip, you have to look up the route to the airport and travel there, look up the route from the airport to the hotel and travel there, and then look up the route from the hotel to your destination before you finally arrive.
Well, that’s only natural. (lol)
With online travel, you can join from home, from your parents’ house, from a café or from a friend’s place — anywhere.
Appeal 3: Join from Bed, Even When You’re Unwell
You were in perfect health, and then right before the trip, a high fever! You are forced to pay cancellation fees… I’m sure it has happened to most of us at least once.
With online travel, you don’t meet anyone in person, so there is no chance of passing a cold on to anyone.
You can even join while lying in bed.
Preparing for Online Travel
What do you need to prepare for online travel? Here is how to get ready!
Honestly, it’s incredibly easy!
Step 1: Find a Plan or Tour
To join, you first have to find a plan or tour.
Most of the time you will choose from an online travel site by desired tour, area and date.
There are many kinds of tours, but they boil down to the following:
・Live streams by local staff or guides
・Introductions to World Heritage sites and famous sights
・Souvenir-buying and shopping services
・Cooking lessons (Spanish, French, Indian cuisine and more)
Most tours run about one to two hours, so they are easy to join.
Step 2: Purchase or Book
Once you have decided which tour to join, purchase or book it.
Credit cards and e-money payments are accepted.
After your purchase is complete, a link (URL) for joining will be sent to your registered email address.
Step 3: Install a Meeting Tool
To join online travel, you must install a meeting tool or app on your computer or smartphone.
The tool differs by service, plan and operator, but in many cases it is Zoom, so be sure to install Zoom in advance.
This matters a lot! If you forget it, scramble on the day and can’t join, you won’t get your money back.
Notes
Step 4: Join the Online Trip
On the day, all you have to do is open the URL in the email you registered with and join.
When you book an optional tour you probably receive a voucher by email, and online travel works the same way.
Since you join online, the meeting place is simply the link to the meeting room.
Online Travel Services: A Detailed Comparison
| Operator | VELTRA | HIS | JTB | ACTIVITY JAPAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of tours | 200+ | 1,200+ | 60+ | 380+ |
| Japan (domestic) | 19 cities | All major cities nationwide | Osaka, Wakayama | All major cities nationwide |
| Overseas: Asia | 12 countries | 18 countries | 6 countries | 12 countries |
| Overseas: Europe | 13 countries | 18 countries | 10 countries | 9 countries |
| Overseas: Middle East and Africa | 5 countries | 12 countries | None | 1 country |
| Overseas: North America (incl. Hawaii) | 2 countries | 2 countries | 2 countries | 3 countries |
| Overseas: Oceania | 2 countries | 5 countries | 2 countries | 1 country |
| Overseas: Central and South America, Caribbean | 12 countries | 8 countries | None | 7 countries |
| Live tours | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| Online lectures | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| Group tours | ○ | △ | × | ○ (some) |
| Lowest price | From ¥1,000 | From ¥0 | From ¥0 | From ¥100 |
| Cancellation fee starts | Varies by tour: 2–3 days before | 7 days before | Varies by tour: up to 10 days before for early tours | Varies by tour: up to 120 days before for early tours |
| Cancellation fee | 1 day before: 100% | 6 days before: 100% | Roughly 4–3 days before: 100% | Until the day before: 50%; on the day: 100% |
| Tool used | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom |
Since COVID-19 spread, in-person exchange has become impossible and travel companies have taken a heavy blow. Overseas travel became nearly impossible, and the school trips of junior high and high schools, a valuable source of revenue, were cancelled one after another. It still feels fresh in memory.
Those travel companies have started offering tours that let you enjoy travel online without any in-person contact.
Besides the major agencies HIS and JTB, VELTRA and ACTIVITY JAPAN also sell online tours.
HIS Has an Overwhelming Number of Tours
Comparing them, HIS stands head and shoulders above the rest.
In particular it has more than 1,200 tours, covering major cities across Japan and most of the countries and cities that many travelers visit overseas, so you are sure to find a tour you want to join.
VELTRA: Flexible with Last-Minute Cancellations
Although it has fewer tours, its strength is that if something comes up and you can’t attend, you can cancel for free up to a few days before.
For Central and South America and the Caribbean, perhaps because it has many local staff, it covers a wider range of countries than any other service.
Recommended Travel Services
VELTRA (Online Academy)
VELTRA is a website offering booking for local tours and activities, founded in 1991.
VELTRA’s “Online Academy” is a new service launched in July 2020, and it includes online-only experiences that you couldn’t have on an actual trip.
It delivers original online experiences from local guides carefully selected from 150 countries. Besides the travel experience itself, it also provides pre-trip information, so
you can deepen your knowledge online before you actually visit.
HIS Online Tours
HIS used to run travel agencies all over Japan, but since the COVID era it has scaled back its agencies and put more effort into online tours instead.
As of June 2021, there are more than 1,300 online experience tours! It covers even minor countries and cities, and many of them are live tours.
If you are curious how things look on location, search around and you will surely find a tour of a city you would love to see.
It depends on the tour, but cancellation fees start one week before, so if you can no longer join, cancel as early as possible!
JTB
Major travel company JTB also started online tours in August 2020. It has fewer tours than HIS, but you can feel it’s JTB, as expected.
Activity Japan
Activity Japan is known for its strengths in marine leisure, nature experiences and cultural experiences, and it has begun offering online experiences as “experience-based products that connect regions and people.”
The number of tours isn’t large yet, but there are tours from as little as 100 yen, so even students can join easily!
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