Organizers of the 12th Kansai Hotel-Restaurant Show, held at INTEX Osaka from 29 to 31 July, have revealed that almost 14,000 people visited the show, touted as the first large-scale exhibition in Japan since the declaration of emergency in response to COVID-19.
Numbers released this week highlighted a total of 830 booths from approximately 460 companies, while 13,933 people visited over the three days, attracted by the pioneering theme of “With Corona,” which saw new measures in place to prevent the spread of infection.
The use of transport, dining, and hotel stays will be announced in the final report by the organizer.
Hiroshi Mizohata, President of the Osaka Tourism Bureau, said, “Perhaps this was the first step in Osaka to restart MICE and it will resonate across the whole of Japan.”
There were also comments from exhibitors welcoming the return of “real world negotiations” and expressing their relief at being able to speak to customers directly.
Officials outlined a range of measures against infection at the venue and, pending the results of testing, the Osaka Tourism Bureau plans to use these same measures for future events.
