"Tabihaku 2024 in Umeda," an event where visitors can experience the latest information and attractions of overseas travel, was held on June 29th at Grand Front Osaka in Kita-ku, Osaka City. Many more visitors than initially expected came to the event, touring the exhibition booths and listening to travel seminars, showing the high level of interest in overseas travel. Tabihaku was held annually at Kansai Airport until 2019, and is making a comeback after a five-year hiatus. Last year, "Kansai International Airport Overseas Travel Expo in Umeda" was held at Umeda South Hall and was well received, so this year's event will be held in Umeda again, with the scale doubled. At the venue, 75 organizations, including domestic and international airlines, overseas government tourist bureaus, domestic local governments and airports, and travel agencies, exhibited booths. Many visitors lined up before the opening at 10 a.m., and long lines formed across the board for the lottery giveaways. Many people gathered for the PR stage's "World's Greatest Scenery Talk Stage" by Shiho, a producer of great scenery, as well as the Tahitian dance by the Tahiti Tourism Board and "I want to go abroad even though the yen is weak! Useful summer travel tips!" by HIS. Travel seminars held by airlines and government tourist bureaus were a great success, with almost all seats filled by advance registration. In addition, the final judging session for the "Overseas Travel Plan Made by Students and Travel Agencies" was held, which was solicited by Kansai Airports, the organizer, and the Kansai branch of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), the special sponsor. The grand prize was awarded to Wakayama University's "#I want to connect with Lolita, a Lolita-cute trip to France - renting out an old castle for a Lolita-only ball" (responsible for Yomiuri Travel). According to Kansai Airports, the number of visitors was 3,833 (preliminary figure), far exceeding the expected 2,500. "Although overseas travel and outbound travel by Japanese people is still sluggish due to factors such as the weak yen, this event reaffirmed that people have a very high attitude toward travel," and many voices of hope for a future recovery were heard at the venue. (Shikama Aki, special correspondent for this newspaper)