The Nippon Travel Agency West Japan Scrum Association (Chairman Akihisa Shimodaira, Lions Travel Planning), an organization of Nippon Travel Agency's agents and agents, held its 2018 general meeting on February 20th at Hotel Granvia Osaka in Kita-ku, Osaka. The association confirmed further cooperation with Nippon Travel Agency's policy of "strengthening cooperation" and vowed to develop further. In his opening remarks, Chairman Shimodaira spoke from his own experience, saying, "I think that people who don't waste time, even if it's something small, and don't slack off will get results," and encouraged the members in attendance, saying, "The situation is tough, but let's work hard and not cut corners, and form a scrum with Nippon Travel Agency." The association's Honorary Chairman, Takashi Okamoto, General Manager of Nippon Travel Agency West Japan Sales Division, expressed his gratitude, saying, "In fiscal 2017, domestic travel was sluggish due to the struggles of individual travel, but this was made up for by the strength of overseas travel. Despite this, the Scrum Association was able to achieve results on a par with the previous year, and I am grateful for that." He also called for continued cooperation, saying, "This year, we will implement measures to make everyone feel more motivated." Kazuya Noguchi, head of the sales planning division's affiliated sales department, said, "In the mid-term management plan we started last year, we put emphasis on alliances and collaborations to complement our functions, and we have set out to work closely with everyone. We cannot afford to lose out as other companies are also trying to progress. We want to change as well, so we would like to team up with Scrum-kai and move forward." He asked for understanding and cooperation in strengthening collaboration. This year, in addition to the usual activities such as cooperation with various campaigns planned by the headquarters and the West Japan Sales Headquarters, dissemination of information through the sales extranet, and participation in training conducted by the company, new measures have been introduced. In order to improve the skills of member companies, a "local training promotion fee" has been set to subsidize training overseas, and the company plans to develop competitive products exclusively for members and start a sales award system, making "strengthened collaboration" a reality as a business. Chairman Shimodaira said that these are "measures to increase the value of the association," and he hopes that these will highlight the benefits of membership and lead to an increase in membership.