Fighters Sports & Entertainment and TripToJapan.com have formed a partnership to increase international tourism at Hokkaido Ballpark F Village, where overseas visitors nearly doubled in 2025. The collaboration merges FSE’s sports and entertainment operations with Takanawa Travel’s AI-driven booking system, offering travelers a unified package for lodging, transportation, and activities. This move follows a sharp rise in international visitors to the venue, which reached 36,000 last year after a slower start in 2024.
Ken Maezawa, president of FSE, pointed to TripToJapan.com’s strong presence in North America as a key reason for the alliance. He noted that the ballpark remains unfamiliar to U.S. travelers, and the first priority will be raising awareness through collaborations with American baseball influencers. Takanawa Travel was also chosen for the inaugural Hokkaido F Village X acceleration program, joining 11 other companies selected from 310 applicants.
Separately, Tigerair Taiwan has launched tigerhop, a Connected Travel platform developed with Dohop’s RetailConnect technology. The system enables passengers to book multi-airline journeys in a single transaction, eliminating the need for complex interline agreements. Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier, is the first partner, facilitating connections from Taipei and Da Nang to Singapore with onward flights to cities like Akita and Tottori.
Hugh Aitken, Dohop’s chief operating officer, stated that the platform helps airlines expand their networks while competing with online travel agents. Dohop’s technology is already in use by Scoot, Thai Vietjet, Citilink, and Air India Express. Joyce Huang, chairperson of Tigerair Taiwan, emphasized that the partnership preserves the airline’s brand identity while offering passengers access to Dohop’s ConnectSure disruption support and travel protection.
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Bangkok is emerging as a travel destination ahead of the Eurovision Asia Grand Final, scheduled for November 14. Agoda reported a 14% year-over-year increase in travel interest to Thailand’s capital for the event, with Vietnam seeing the largest rise at 105%, followed by India at 43% and domestic Thai travelers at 30%. The surge reflects the event’s status as the first pan-Asian expansion of the Eurovision franchise, featuring finalists from 11 countries.
Agoda identified four key neighborhoods in Bangkok for visitors: Siam for shopping, Thonglor and Ekkamai for nightlife, Sathorn for riverside dining, and Old Town for historic sites like the Grand Palace. The platform also noted increased travel interest in South Korea (18%) and Vietnam (5%) following their national selection shows in September and October.
Pedro Alves, SITA’s senior vice president of airports, observed that airports outside the EU are already testing seamless biometric processes, including automated border control and bag-drop systems.
In aviation news, Volaris has introduced Disruption Assistance, an optional premium service offering flexible rebooking or refunds for flights delayed by more than two hours. Powered by Hopper Technology Solutions, the program allows passengers to self-serve rebooking on Volaris or other airlines or receive a full refund if no viable option exists. The service supplements Volaris’s existing obligations and is available at the time of flight purchase.