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Travelience Launches Travel Planning Tool, TripleLights,
and the Most Authentic Online Travel Guidebook for Tourists in Japan

TripleLights Service Only Uses Licensed, Professional Tour Guides
and Provides Personal Videos, Profiles, Blog Posts, and Reviews of Each Guide 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – LA Travel & Adventure Show (Booth #723) — February 21, 2015 – Today on TripleLights.com, Travelience launched a first-of-its kind online travel guidebook to help travelers plan their trips and buy private tours anywhere in Japan using the most authentic, extensive and accurate information available today exclusively from Japanese sources. In addition to Japan’s most popular travel destinations, the new guidebook includes the most complete and accurate information about many fascinating places not typically found in other guidebooks about Japan such as Ushiku Daibutsu (highest Buddha statue in the world), Takeda Castle and Edo Wonderland (a cultural theme park about life in the Edo period, 1603 – 1868).

Travel Planner and New Online Guidebook

The new TripleLights guidebook fulfills a critical need for English-speaking travelers:  a lack of complete and accurate tourism information available in English in most traditional travel guidebooks.  It features content exclusively from nearly 50 diverse Japanese sources and will soon cover over 600 places in Japan, making it the most authentic, reliable, and extensive travel guidebook about things to do and see in Japan. ¹

The guidebook will also feature about 70 new articles every month, ensuring travelers have the most updated information available.  It also features over 1,800 gorgeous photos that capture the beauty and vibrancy of Japanese culture and Japan’s many natural wonders. The guidebook’s editor-in-chief is Kimiko Kasahara, former chief editor at The Japan Times, the most widely read English-language newspaper in Japan.

Travelers simply browse the TripleLights online travel guidebook and plan their trip by adding places of interest with the “Add to Trip” button.  Users can then edit, download and email or print their trip itinerary.

Private, Professional Tours

TripleLights is the easiest way for American tourists and business travelers to browse, search, and buy the most engaging, fun and educational tours anywhere in Japan.  Unlike other services, TripleLights only uses licensed professional tour guides.  In addition, travelers can also get to know each professional guide before purchasing a tour by watching guides’ personal videos, written profiles, blog posts and customer reviews.

Most tours are done walking and via public transportation (not on a traditional tour bus), which creates a more personable and interesting way to learn about local culture and history.  Most tours are given in English, though there are some guides fluent in French, German, Spanish, and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).

TripleLights solves two key problems. First, many other tourist services and travel agencies rely on amateur guides who often have insufficient knowledge of Japanese culture and history, are not completely fluent in English, and/or force tourists to make time-consuming stops in souvenir shops.

Second, in Japan many tourist guides are underutilized because most traditional travel agencies tend to use only guides who can travel and stay overnight away from their home towns, leaving out many qualified female guides who can only do one-day tours and must stay at home to take care of their children at night.  In addition, many “older” guides are not savvy in using the Web to attract new customers.   As a result, 50 percent of these guides in Japan work less than three days per month.

There is growing demand for professional guides since the number of tourists in Japan is projected to grow to 20 million in 2020, up from 10 million in 2013 (source:  Japan Tourism Agency).  Providing tours anywhere in Japan – including top cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Mt. Fuji among many other places – TripleLights is well positioned to meet this growing demand.

“I started our company after having a bad tour experience in Tibet with two guides, who were not very professional or knowledgeable,” said Naoaki Hashimoto, CEO of Travelience. “We allow tourists to easily get to know their prospective guide before booking a tour on our website.  And we help licensed professional guides earn more revenue through more consistent employment opportunities.”

Travelience, which started out by focusing its guided tours in the Tokyo area, has one of the best industry reputations, highlighted by its 66 five-star guide ratings on TripAdvisor.com.  The TripleLights blog is also one of the world’s best resources on Japanese culture and things to do and see in Japan.

“The whole family and I had a great experience with Yuriko as our guide. Everything went really smoothly,” said TripleLights customer, Daphne, after a tour of popular spots in Tokyo.  “This is also the first time that we have commuted via public transportation on a guided tour and it was a different experience instead of being shuttled everywhere on a tour bus. We are really thankful to Yuriko for helping us in our queries that we posed during the tour, and she followed up on them even after the tour was over!”

The average tour price per group on TripleLights.com is about $245, depending on the duration, location, size of group, and experience of the guide.  Most tour groups range from five to ten people, making the price per person very affordable.

About TripleLights

TripleLights (a Travelience company) is the easiest way for tourists to plan their trip and buy the best, professional tours anywhere in Japan.  On TripleLights.com, tourists can browse over 21 locations in Japan, make a trip itinerary, buy various tours and easily get to know professional guides through their videos, blog posts and customer reviews.  As of February 2015, TripleLights has 160 professional guides, and the number of guides is increasing each day.  Each guide must pass a national certification exam administered by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).  Travelience also has plans to expand TripleLights to Hong Kong by mid 2015.  Travelience earned a 2014 Certificate of Excellence by TripAdvisor.  For more information, please visit www.triplelights.com.