Japan Airlines gives tourists a chance to reduce luggage by renting clothes – 7/5/2023 – Market

Tourists visiting Japan have the best chance of traveling light: pack underwear and a toothbrush, but rent all your clothes upon arrival and show up with an eco-friendly empty suitcase.

In a year-long experiment that began on Wednesday (5), passengers traveling on Japan Airlines (JAL) can rent clothes by season, size, formality and color combination.

According to the scheme, a visitor from Japan can reserve his clothes up to one month in advance to use for two weeks. Travelers can specify the purpose of their visit to ensure they have the appropriate attire.

According to JAL, the scheme is designed for travelers who want to make a “sustainable choice”.

The rented clothing – a combination of retail outlets and second-hand clothing collected by a partner company – will be delivered to a hotel or Airbnb accommodation prior to arrival and collected at the end of the visit to be washed and recycled.

Under the current pricing structure, a woman traveling on business in the sweltering Japanese summer heat can pay 5,000 yen ($35 or R$170) for a selection of five tops and three bottoms that include linen shirts, pants and a ankle length skirt.

A man taking a more casual winter trip can rent a wardrobe that includes trendy faded jeans, a sweatshirt and a padded jacket for 7,000 yen.

The experimental scheme, known as “Any Wear, Anywhere”, led by JAL and trading house Sumitomo, was launched in an attempt to promote sustainable tourism.

Over the course of the 13-month trial, JAL will collect data to see whether the scheme causes an overall reduction in the weight of passengers’ bags.

The website dealing with the clothing rental system states that a reduction of 10 kg in a passenger’s luggage results in an estimated reduction of 7.5 kg in carbon dioxide emissions. A 7.5 kg cut in CO₂ emissions, he adds as a reference, is equivalent to not using a hair dryer for 78 days (based on an average use of 10 minutes per drying session).

The scheme was launched during a post-pandemic period of explosive growth in visitors to Japan. After strictly limiting tourist arrivals between March 2020 and October 2022, the country reopened its doors.

According to the government-run Japan Tourism Agency, visitors in the first three months of 2023 spent an average of 50,496 yen ($500) on shopping alone.

In May, nearly 1.9 million people visited Japan — an increase of 1,191% compared to the same month a year earlier, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The strong recovery in visitor numbers, which is still around 30% lower than in 2019, has come despite significantly lower numbers of visitors from mainland China, which still limits the number of exit visas for tourism.