Why Everyone Is Talking About Japan’s Winter Tours After The Hong Kong Travel Expo

Japan and Hong Kong’s collaboration continues to grow as one of the leading travel companies in Japan, Club Tourism Co., Ltd., finished extremely well at the Hong Kong Travel Expo (HTE) 2025 Autumn Edition. The expo, held in September 2025, welcomed many travellers willing to appreciate Japan again for its beautiful landscapes and traditional culture.

As travel demand increases for Hong Kong SAR and Japan, Club Tourism’s booth was also one of the expo’s most popular, as the company offered Japan’s winter delights as a theme for the interactive experiences and for the lucky draw. The strong demand for travel and positive outlook for Japan for the coming winter and spring seasons was evident as many attendees warmly expressed their anticipation of trips to Japan.

Japan and Hong Kong Tourism Ties Strengthening

The participation of Club Tourism in HTE2025 also highlights the travel relationship longevity between Hong Kong and Japan. These two regions also have a rich culture, and there is a strong mutual appreciation. Over the decades, Japan has become popular with Hong Kong travellers. Japan is particularly known for its hospitality, wonderful culinary offerings, and beautiful scenery across the four seasons.

After the expo, Club Tourism pledged its commitment to enhancing traveler distribution and experience, focusing on access and convenience. The company focuses on diversifying travelers’ personalized experiences, as the different regions of Japan offer unique travel encounters. From Hokkaido’s snowy, lavish landscapes to the peaceful hot springs of Kyushu, each place offers a different travel experience.

To further aid travelers’ winter season travel plans, Club Tourism offers a dedicated, fully optimized winter travel page on its itinerary planning website, made to aid customers in their planning process to browse winter tours and select varying options tailored to their customizations.

A New Way to Hokkaido’s and Japan’s Winter 2022 and Beyond

The newly added spring-winter special page adds to the user experience with its custom and personalized Japan winter experience offers. These offers span multiple travel destinations in Japan to offer a winter travel experience with traditional snow Japan attractions, snow festivals, and hot spring retreats in beautiful, relaxing winter Japan.

The tours also offer and cover historically significant features like winter in the temples or snow Japan winter attractions such as snowy light festivals. Winter in Japan offers a unique and personalized travel experience with tours like spring and winter snow festivals.

Kanto: Mount Fuji Sightseeing and Strawberry Picking Day Tour, an ideal option for nature and leisure enthusiasts looking for a harmonious day trip.

Kansai: Kyoto Arashiyama Autumn Leaf Illumination and Gourmet Tour, showcasing the region’s remarkable light spectacles and culinary delights.

Kinki and Chugoku Regions: Miyama, Amanohashidate, and Crab Gourmet Tour, which offers the perfect combination of historical elegance and culinary flavors.

Every itinerary is designed to cater to relaxation and sceneries for all types of travelers—families, groups, or solo, so there is something for everyone culturally.

Increasing Opportunities for Seasonal Travel

By adding the winter page, Club Tourism is setting out to ease trip planning for visitors, particularly those traveling during the year-end holidays or spring break. Winter in Japan, lasting from December to March, is one of the most beautiful times to visit the country. With snow-covered scenery, winter festivals, and traditional foods, towns are transformed into beautiful winter villages adorned with lights.

Club Tourism pointed out that these tours are focused on four main themes: nature, food, culture, and relaxation. Along with experiencing the traditions that are held for years and generations, travelers get to enjoy Japan’s highly revered hot springs, local foods including crab and wagyu beef, and rich cultural practices.

This initiative reminds people that Japan is not only a summer and autumn destination and winter has its beauty. Japan’s culture and its quiet beauty reveal a side of culture that is often unexplored.

Fostering Connections Between Travelers

Moving a step beyond just tour offerings, Club Tourism’s mission is to help travelers connect through unique experiences that help them value Japan’s different regional and cultural diversities. Japan offers more than 10,000 domestic excursions annually, and provides a myriad of options to travelers of all levels, be it newcomers or more experienced ones.

Japan is geographically close to Hong Kong and has cultural ties with it, which is why it is so easily accessible and can be a rewarding destination for short or medium-term trips! Travelers can enjoy meticulously organized tour packs that cover both famous attractions and lesser-known places, such as Kyoto’s temples, Hokkaido’s snow festivals, and Tohoku and Kyushu’s onsen retreats.

A Vision for Memorable Travel

After its successful showcase at HTE2025, Club Tourism reinforces its vision for sustainable, memorable travel. The company intends to diversify its guided tour offerings, continue to train professional tour leaders, and deepen collaborations with Japan’s local communities to allow travelers to engage and explore with authentic and responsible communities.

The feedback at the Hong Kong Travel Expo showcased not only the continuous interest in Japan but also the focus of travelers on purposeful and personalized travel. Club Tourism intends to innovate the approach to travel planning. By digitally reducing friction and combining the Japanese “omotenashi” or hospitality, planning will travel more seamlessly while retaining the cultural richness of the experience in Japan.

Embrace Japan’s Winter Spirit

With the approach of winter, Japan once again welcomes visitors with its warm hospitality, serene, snowy Shirakawa-go, and winter traditions. From the snowy rooftops of Shirakawa-go to the steam rising from Hokkaido’s onsen towns, every destination tells a story of culture and nature.

With Club Tourism’s new winter tours, travelers from Hong Kong and beyond are invited to rediscover Japan’s winter beauty. Each journey, in a hot spring with falling snow or wandering with winter illuminations around temples, promises moments of wonder and connection.

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Is Iceland Losing Its Cruise Magic After A Controversial Tourism Tax?

Iceland’s unparalleled beauty — its glaciers and volcanoes, and the Northern Lights — is now for the first time experiencing a chill of a different kind — an economic chill. For the first time, Iceland is seeing a drop in the number of cruise ships docking at its ports. This drop is attributable to an increase in taxes along with new infrastructure plans, and it is raising concerns for local communities and tourism officials alike.

Iceland’s cruise tourism is seasonal, and snap decisions like these can upset the balance Iceland has. The economic impact of these decisions is already being felt, especially in the rural ports that rely on cruise passengers for their seasonal economic lifeline. The long-standing relationship Iceland has with cruise tourism is receiving its first policy-related challenge.

Infrastructure Tax Charge Implementation

Tourism authorities in Iceland announced new taxes for cruise ship tourism in late 2024. With the new taxes, cruise ship passengers will pay 2,500 Icelandic Krona ($18) per port visit. This charge per day will be active for the duration of their visit to the Icelandic coast.

Government representatives have indicated that the revenue from the tax will pay for new infrastructure, fund new environmental programs, and ensure benefits from growing tourism reach the country. Officials estimated the revenue from the tax will be over $10 million. This is a projected positive addition to government revenue.

Nevertheless, the cruise industry has shown concern from the beginning. The government has embraced the tax as part of a broader strategy on sustainability. At the same time, cruise lines have cautioned that the tax will affect cruise itineraries, particularly to ports of call outside the capital, Reykjavík.

Economic Impact on Regional Ports

It appears the new tax is mostly impacting rural coastal communities that depend on cruise tourism for their economic viability. Estimates provided by Cruise Iceland, the country’s cruise sector representative, indicate that several ports will experience a decrease in bookings for the coming years. At several of these ports, reservations for the years up to 2027 have declined by over 50%. This suggests cruise lines are increasingly uncertain about the economic viability of these ports.

The organization’s managing director stated that communities with a small, non-diversified economy are having a particularly hard time. These small ports used to prosper when cruise ship tourists would patronize local artisans, take restaurant meals, and use local tour guides. Now, they expect a slowdown in tourists and a drop in income.

While larger imported infrastructure in Reykjavík continues to draw larger ships, smaller ports, such as Akureyri and Ísafjörður, have noticed a decline in cruise visitation. It is not only the business of local tourism that is adversely affected, but also the more general goal of spatial equity in development, which centers the capital and marginalizes the rest of the country.

As a more specific concern, cruise lines in the North Atlantic region, particularly the Icetronic lines, have been vocal about their concern that the new tax will not be economically feasible. It has been said that representatives believe the tax is exorbitant relative to similar fees in countries adjacent to Iceland, and they fear that it will be the final straw in the decision to stop including Iceland in cruise routes.

Some operators state that, although they appreciate Iceland as a destination, the associated costs may lead them to reconsider their Arctic routes. Iceland has historically maintained a great position as a gateway to the Arctic and has been a vital stop on transatlantic passages between Northern Europe and North America. Given this, the decline in cruise calls Iceland receives may have a wider impact on the region’s cruise tourism visibility.

In the opinion of tourism authorities, the imposition of the tax in question came after the thoughtful consideration of its expected environmentally detrimental impacts and the need for sustainable funding. Nonetheless, the interface between long-term sustainability and the short-term, relatively underdeveloped and economically vulnerable reality of a local community remains a complex and chronic problem.

The Imperative of Balanced Policy Making

Under Iceland’s Environmental Protection and Nature Conservation plans and legislation, Iceland has supported environmental and eco-sustainable policies aimed at preserving its landscape in view of the threats of its massive tourist population. For this reason, Iceland has positioned itself at the cutting edge of environmental and eco-sustainable policies and laws in the developed world. Such policies, uniformly applied without exception, relieve Iceland of probable claims of discrimination by its foreign eco-sustainable policies.

Environmental authorities have suggested that cruise ships and their unregulated and massive tourist population disproportionately exploit and strain local infrastructure and the environment. For this reason, this legislation weighs heavily on cruise ships and environmental and waste management regulations and control.

Still, those involved in tourism advocate for a balanced method. For some community members, particularly in more remote locations, cruise visitors are among the most dependable sources of seasonal revenue. With fewer visitors, there is a greater risk of layoffs, the closure of small businesses, stagnation or even decline of community development, and the loss of the very sense of community sustainability the tax was intended to uphold.

The Wider Debate for Icelandic Tourism

This situation has sparked the larger debate concerning the most appropriate approach for Icelandic tourism. As Iceland attempts to strike the right balance between economic and environmental priorities, one potential outcome of the policies governing cruise tourism might provide a valuable lesson to other destinations in the Arctic and North Atlantic region.

There is a potential funding deficit and a decline in cruise frequency. For tourism, several industries and communities are mutually exclusive. Policy decisions, once implemented, will disrupt economic flows for a considerable time.

A Crossroads for Iceland’s Cruise Future

Iceland’s ports must now look to the future; how Iceland plans to address the balance between its sustainability goals and its tourism revenue dependence remains to be seen. Beautiful Akureyri, Ísafjörður, and Seyðisfjörður have long been cruise ship ports, but now the ships are going to other regions, and these towns are being left to face an uncertain future without the tourism revenue those ships brought.

Iceland remains beautiful and culturally rich, but for those passengers on the great cruise ships, the opportunity to visit Iceland will be diminishing. The next few years will show if Iceland’s new initiatives will bring the balanced model of sustainable tourism the island needs. Unfortunately, without changes to the current cruise policies, the coastal ports will enter an era of quiet.

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The Hottest Cruise In The Mediterranean Is All About The Music You Grew Up With

Marella Cruises has started yet another music and memory trip from Majorca, this time accompanied by a maritime adventure. Marella Cruises expects a warm welcome for its adults-only themed voyage, Electric Sunsets 80s vs 90s, which Marella celebrates for its nostalgia and entertainment returning in April 2027. This adventure allows guests to re-experience the sounds of the 80s and 90s and creates a memory for nostalgia on the Marella Discovery.

The seamless marketing of this adventure reflects the growing interest in experiential travel the world over. Travel is now more than the destination, integrating music, cultural souvenirs, and the holiday joy of cruising. Marella, as reflected interest by the company’s interest and its CEO, Chris Hackney, Musically themed holistic travel on a nostalgic voyage becomes a more focused specialty for the Marella group of cruises.

A Celebration of Music and Memories

Returning for its sixth voyage with the same name, Electric Sunsets 80s vs 90s has now become the most loved themed cruise. with a more complex love and themed disco-culture cruise for the 90s. A more elaborate disco-culture cruise for the 90s era is set to mark the return for its sixth themed voyage.

From April 28 to May 1, 2027, we will take our first three-night cruise from Palma de Mallorca, stopping in Valencia and Ibiza, and returning to Palma. Each destination will have its unique Mediterranean appeal. In Valencia, we will explore the City of Arts and Sciences and the bustling old town. Ibiza will offer a stark contrast with its famous nightlife and tranquil beauty.

These cruises will feature live shows by performers from the ’80s and ’90s. The complete line-up will be announced in the first quarter of 2027. The cruise will celebrate the music from the 80s and 90s, from synth-pop to dance classics, and will cater to the older customers and younger cruisers who would like to experience the music and rhythm of those decades.

About the Marella Discovery

As part of the modern fleet, the Marella Discovery will be our floating venue. The Marella Discovery is known for its relaxed atmosphere and offers a variety of entertainment spaces, including open-air stages, themed bars, and lounges, which are designed to host performances and themed parties.

On deck, guests will participate in sunset deck parties, themed dinner events, and dance events on board inspired by the 80s and 90s club scene. Passengers will experience the feeling of a time voyage as they sail the Mediterranean with time period-appropriate décor and entertainment spanning the entire onboard experience.

Marella Cruises has claimed the Electric Sunsets series has become a favorite of loyal and new customers. This has drawn those who are looking for a social, musical, informal, and nostalgic escape as the traditional cruise formalities are discarded.

For those travelers who wish to extend their Mediterranean cruise getaway, Marella is offering a very limited number of cruise-and-stay packages in selected Majorca hotels. These hotels are Alua Soul Mallorca Resort, Astoria Playa Hotel, and Hotel Son Matias Beach, whose beachfront views and adult-friendly atmosphere are quite popular.

With these packages, clients can enjoy the thrill of island stays after or even before their cruise. There is no better way to enjoy island breezes than to spend time on the Balearic coast, exploring the island, its waters, and the local culture and cuisine nestled around the coast of Palma. Mediterranean vacations can definitely be tailored to guests’ desires for both fun and relaxation.

Modern Amenities on a Nostalgic Voyage

Aside from the happy and dancing crowds, the Electric Sunsets cruise has to be one of the best offerings from Marella for its soothing and responsible travel. There are decarbonization efforts on board, and they do so with the ultimate comfort of guests in mind. This is part of the sustainable travel eco-tourism model Marella follows, in which they strive to meet the cruise passengers’ expectations while promoting responsible cruise travel on the Mediterranean.

Nostalgia perfectly describes this cruise for those who appreciate history and for those who appreciate the twenty-first century. It is a journey that seamlessly combines the exciting rhythmic culture of days gone by with the gentle modern entertainment that cruise travel has to offer.

A New Way To Relive the ’80s and ’90s

Excitement has been rekindled for Themed Cruises and nostalgic music. Marella Cruises has described the Electric Sunsets 80s VS 90s Mediterranean cruise as an experience for guests to relive and reconnect with one another, their personal playlists, and the unglossed spirit of celebration. During the cruise, travelers will reconnect to one another with themed music.

The cruise line has described this themed voyage as one of the defining highlights of their 2027 season. The nostalgia and discovery will be combined to fit the spirit of Marella as the defining cruise line. The price of £799 is affordable for most travelers who wish to participate in the boat festival of dance and color.

The Mediterranean Awaits

Travelers on the Marella Discovery cruise ship will take a musical cruise through the Balearic Islands, enjoy the retro beats, and prepare for a nostalgic journey through the Mediterranean. The Spanish ports will be the life of the cruise, and the warm Mediterranean nights will be the highlight of the cruise. The Electric Sunsets 80s vs 90s cruise in the Mediterranean will be one of the best cruise experiences in 2027.

This cruise is for the retro enthusiasts. The people with past holiday experiences and happy memories will enjoy this cruise the most.

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Madeira Becomes The Smart Cruise Hub Every Traveler Will Want To Visit

The picturesque island of Madeira is witnessing the port authority embark on full modernization. The Administration of the Ports of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (APRAM), within the regional secretariat for economy, is completing the Digital Quay Reservation management system for cruise ship calls.

Madeira is embracing the 21st-century demand for digital technology. Gone are the days of the manual, paper-based systems. The port moves to fully operational digital systems. Internationally recognized best practices on port transparency, communication, and operational sustainability are now reachable. Madeira’s port facility operations will no longer be a hinterland.

Streamlining a Manual Process

Documentation for cruise ship berth reservations at Madeira’s ports was wholly manual, at times, through multiple documentation coordination. Beknownst to most, a port authority would digitally sign a well-congruent declaration, equivalent to a delay. He or she would digitally sign a delay manifestation for approval, for a ship entry documentation. The delay documentation would be aligned with an estimated time of arrival at Madeira. The effort required for coordination was excessive, for no gain.

Digitally, a port authority would no longer restrict entry documentation. Automated entry and exit of Madeira documentation would be optimally aligned to a registered time, thus improving operational efficiency.

As stated by the administration, the design of the digital system allows for full traceability and auditability of each step within the reservation system, from request initiation to final approval. This serves to boost trust by providing complete transparency and accountability to cruise operators and partners at the ports.

Increasing Efficiency and Transparency

The APRAM board chair pointed out that one of the system’s key features is the facilitation of transparency and increased operational efficiency. Automatic request tracking capabilities of the system provide for faster decision-making by eliminating request tracking errors. It improves communications between the port authority and shipping agents such that all parties are informed of any changes and have current information elapsed on berth scheduling, allocation, and availability. There are also strong systems to protect sensitive data, also in line with European public digital administration frameworks. Besides internal operation modernization, this improves the public image of Madeira as a maritime destination that is efficient, trusting, and progressive.

A Step Forward in Cruise Management

Madeira’s digital platform caters to the cruise industry’s specificities. Madeira’s ports, particularly the Port of Funchal, encounter large cruise vessels, most often during peak tourism seasons. During this time, the demand for berths often outstrips the number available, necessitating careful coordination and clear decision-making.

The new system provides an automated framework in which cruise companies submit and, in real time, track the status of their berth requests. Visibility and traceability in reservations decrease potential conflicts and eliminate guesswork, while also enhancing the efficient utilization of the limited quay. Port authorities can oversee the port’s high traffic, which makes it safe, without decreasing the level of service provided.

This initiative demonstrates APRAM’s willingness to foster communication with cruise operators, which in turn helps operators understand berth communication, the level of available spacing, and the limitations and rules on its allocation. Port authorities noted the system’s inability to take on more reservations and the necessity of turning them down. With this new system, the port can now easily and clearly communicate all limitations.

Integration with the Port Community

Aside from streamlining berth reservations, the platform will function as a cooperative system for the whole port community. It links reservations with operational planning, which allows all the cruise stakeholders, including logistics, security, and passenger services, to work with consistent and precise information.

This information flow improves the synergy of port management, maritime agents, and cruise stakeholders. It also sets the groundwork for future integration with customs, tourism, and travel to land transport, which improves the efficiency of Madeira as a cruise destination.

This is a clear example of APRAM taking a facilitatory role as an integrator of maritime and cruise tourism within the region.

Investment and Strategic Vision

Madeira’s focus on technological investment is exemplified by the digital platform, which is priced at €41,250. This initiative is encompassed within Project P4.14, which is under the Creation of Port Community System (Sub-investment C19-i05.01). This is part of the digitalization of the public administration of the autonomous region and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

Through this project, Madeira seeks to improve its digital competencies, address its public infrastructure to more modern standards, and adapt public administration to the expectations of transparency, accountability, and sustainability. The quay reservation system exemplifies these goals by uniquely combining innovation and the island’s maritime history.

This development comes at a crucial moment in the world of cruise tourism as Madeira’s initiative places the region amidst the leading small islands to adopt smart port administration technologies. The blend of Madeira’s natural beauty and modern technological infrastructure will provide cruise tourists and operators with a seamless experience on the island.

The new system offers immediate benefits to shipping agents and operators through expedited communication, reduced bureaucratic obstacles, and more reliable schedules. For the region, the new system exemplifies progress, modernization, and commitment to the competitive needs of the world’s maritime trading system. Madeira’s system will provide the ports with integrated modernization and sustained relevance in a rapidly changing global maritime environment.

A Modern Touch to a Historic Destination

As the Ports of Madeira approaches the launch of this digital reservation system, this project signifies more than a technological enhancement. It indicates the embarkation of a smarter and more sustainable era for Madeira’s maritime activities. It shows the region’s capacity to balance and embrace the old with the new. It assures that the efficiency of the new digital systems will be accompanied by the warm, personal customer service that Madeira is renowned for.

The changes to Madeira’s sea ports will be welcomed by the visitors arriving by sea. The experience will be seamless with all the new systems in place. Madeira’s dedication to the principles of digital transparency and service excellence will ensure that no detail is overlooked and that all aspects of docking and arrivals will be orchestrated beautifully. Madeira is ready to meet the evolving demands of the future.

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