Abstract
The issue of fuel surcharge is one of the most important topics to discuss in today's aviation industry. In line with the international regulations many countries might have different fuel surcharge related acts and regulations within their border. As a result, the amount of this surcharge varies accordingly in different countries. This paper discuss current Japanese fuel surcharge issues and implications towards the Japanese tourism industry in general and travel agents in particular.
The fuel surcharge for airline ticket at the Japanese point of sale tends to be higher than airline ticket sales to and from Japan at the foreign land. This gives a wide opportunity for foreign OTAs' to freely expand their sales in the Japanese market at the expense of local Japanese Travel Agents. The Online Travel Agency (OTA) is now the most flourishing business throughout the globe.
On the other hand, the Japanese travel agents are facing a serious difficulty of competing with foreign OTAs' as the Japanese Travel Agency Act put a tight control over them. Hence, this paper concluded that unless the government control of international air tariffs will be amended or abolished it continues creating unfair competition against the Japanese travel agents.
