Seven small and medium-sized travel agencies from around the country came together to form the general incorporated association JARTA, with the aim of developing the local community by attracting visitors to Japan. A press conference was held in Kyoto on May 28th. The association announced an outline of its activities, calling itself "an alliance of travel agencies that will invigorate the local community." JARTA stands for Japan Alliance of Responsible Travel Agencies. It means a responsible travel agency alliance. The founding members include the representatives of Spirit of Japan Travel (Kyoto Prefecture), Reborn (Saitama Prefecture), Cerca Travel (Kyoto Prefecture), Discover Walks (Fukuoka Prefecture), Hokkaido Takarajima Travel (Hokkaido), Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau (Wakayama Prefecture), and Tabisuke Nishitani LLC (Aomori Prefecture), each of whom serves as a director. Spirit's President Takayama Takeshi was appointed as the representative director. The purpose of the foundation is to "spread awareness of the role of tourism and strengthen the sustainability of tourism by cooperating with tourists, tourist destinations, tourist associations, local residents, and local governments." In order to promote urban development tourism, the association aims to increase the number of travel agencies nationwide that develop travel products through regional collaboration, with the promotion of destination tourism as the flagship, and to "propose the creation of a system for fair and healthy regional development as a travel agency aiming for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030." Specifically, the association will strengthen its branding and attract customers from tourists visiting Japan and overseas buyers, mainly from Europe, the United States, and Australia. It will focus on building a cooperative system with local tourism businesses, residents, local governments, and DMOs. It will carry out a wide range of business activities, including the introduction of rating and certification systems for travel agencies, training and lectures, and the creation of travel products. For members, the portal site will be used as a place for members to interact with each other, such as proposing tour sales as an agent and business consultation, and as a place for online sales. The training sessions will be announced to JATA and ANTA members to increase membership, and training content will be set up for members in stages. There are also plans to carry out inbound-oriented projects such as exhibiting at international travel fairs, monitor tours, and providing services to buyers.https://www.jarta.org.