Japan Luxury Travel Forum 2011

Late last week I took part in the Japan Luxury Travel Forum 2011 seminar held at the Hotel Granvia Kyoto.  Highlighting on how to attract high net worth travelers to the region, Ricco DeBlank of Sun Hung Kai Properties based in Hong Kong and James Samuel of Reed Exhibitions out of the United Kingdom where on hand to share their insights with the Kyoto-based majority crowd.

It was a pleasure to see Ricco again as I had not seen him since he left his post as the general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka property in 2007.  After leaving Osaka, Ricco moved to Tokyo to open the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo hotel before coming to his current position as CEO for the hotel division at Sun Hung Kai Properties.

Following the talks of Ricco and James, a panel discussion was held with representatives from the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Kyoto City Tourism Bureau and Iori.

I have highlighted Iori in the past on my blog here and here.  For those wishing to experience a traditional Japanese machiya (townhouse) around Kyoto city, I highly suggest one of Iori's properties.