On March 28, the Osaka Prefecture Association of Travel Agents (OATA, Chairman Masataka Tokuhara, Osaka International Travel) held its 43rd regular general meeting at the Rihga Royal Hotel in Kita-ku, Osaka. In his opening remarks, Chairman Tokuhara reported, "As a result of focusing on increasing membership, which is essential for revitalizing the organization, we have gained six companies, more than our target. In addition, as of today, three companies have joined us, so we will be able to start the new fiscal year with 111 companies." He emphasized that the number of members, which had been declining for 23 years, has been halted. He also reported that the amount of coupons issued was slightly higher than the previous year for the first time in five years. Regarding the HOK Liaison Committee, which was launched with the Hyogo Prefecture Travel Agent Cooperative and the Kyoto Prefecture Travel Agent Cooperative, they jointly created the "Marutoku Plan." He said that this has led to an increase in members' revenue and an increase in coupons issued, and asked for members' cooperation to continue the project in the next fiscal year. There were no bankruptcies or unliquidated incidents this year, but "S Company will be written off as bad debt for the current term, and J Company will strive to collect unliquidated amounts as soon as possible," he said. The agenda items discussed included the business reports from the previous year, the business plans and budgets for the new fiscal year, and all agenda items were approved as originally proposed. At the general meeting of the OATA Liaison Council (Chairman Ando Motokazu = Ando Reservation Center) held at a separate venue, all agenda items were approved as originally proposed, and it was decided to continue the collaborative project with the All-Japan Travel Association Kyushu Okinawa, which has been working together since last year. After the general meeting, Travel News President Kazuhiro Okubo gave a speech titled "Now is the time to strengthen collaboration between small and medium-sized travel agencies and receiving institutions!" He said, "There are various associations of receiving facilities that work with various travel agencies in the industry, but the connection between the OATA Liaison Council and OATA is very strong," and introduced that the issuance and dissemination of the unified coupons with full guarantees, which were started when OATA was established, would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Liaison Council. He emphasized that "OATA and the Liaison Council are the two wheels of a car." He also said, "Instead of promoting individual facilities, hosting organizations should bring timely information about the area around their facilities to travel agencies and ask them to send customers," and introduced examples of how Kochi Prefecture and Gero Onsen are attracting customers. Finally, he told OATA members that he hopes the Liaison Council will build a relationship where they can say DMO (send more groups), GMO (send more groups), and KMO (send more individuals), a play on the DMO promoted by the government. 380 people attended the joint social party of OATA and the OATA Liaison Council. Chairman Ando said, "I would like to do my best with the cooperation of all the directors. I sincerely ask for your further guidance and encouragement," and then Zentabi President Mikio Nakama led a toast, and the social party began.