- What is HANARE?
- HANARE is a Tokyo land operator for the international travel trade. Its registration as a travel service arrangement business under Japan’s Travel Agency Act is in progress. It works business to business and does not sell to consumers. Briefs are answered and arrangements carried out once registration is in place.
- Does HANARE sell directly to travellers?
- No. HANARE works only with the international travel trade: luxury travel advisors and tour operators, including those who serve family offices. Travellers are served through their own advisor, who remains their only point of contact. HANARE runs no consumer site.
- Will HANARE contact or market to my clients directly?
- No. Your client relationship stays yours. We do not market to your clients or accept a booking from them directly. During a journey our team on the ground serves them in your name, and afterwards we refer every enquiry back to you.
- Which client markets does HANARE serve?
- HANARE works with advisors serving North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, the Middle East (GCC) and Asia Pacific. All guest communication and documentation is handled in English; arrangements in Japan are handled in Japanese.
- How is a land operator different from a DMC, and why use one in Tokyo?
- A land operator arranges the components of a journey on the ground in a destination (accommodation, dining, experiences, guides and transport) on behalf of overseas travel sellers. In Tokyo, much of the best inventory, such as rare ryokan suites within reach of the city, reservation-only counters and private cultural visits, is held through personal relationships that are often not online and are hard to reach from abroad. HANARE gives advisors one accountable, English-speaking contact for that supply.
- What kind of access does HANARE provide?
- Priority allocations and introductions that clients cannot reach on their own: rare ryokan and onsen suites, kaiseki and sushi counters that do not take the public, private sessions with masters of tea and craft, and cultural visits before opening hours. Each comes with a dedicated guide and chauffeured transport.
- Which areas does HANARE cover?
- Tokyo and the places within a day’s reach of it: Hakone, Mt. Fuji and Kamakura, arranged from our base in the city. We do not cover the whole of Japan by choice. We arrange only what we can stand behind in person.
- How do the commercials work for advisors?
- Net rates, itemised quotations and written confirmations, on terms agreed once at onboarding. You add your own margin. Settlement is in JPY for now, with other currencies available on request as we grow. Arrangement fees charged to overseas agencies are expected to qualify as export-exempt under Japanese consumption tax rules. A Japanese tax adviser will confirm this treatment before our first quotation.
- How quickly does HANARE respond to a client brief?
- Once we have onboarded your agency, a costed proposal will come back within days. If a brief raises questions, we will ask them first. Requests during a journey will be handled by our team on the ground in Tokyo.
- What are the cancellation and amendment terms?
- Each quotation states the cancellation and amendment terms of every component in writing before you confirm. Rare inventory in Tokyo often carries strict conditions, and we state them plainly so that they do not surprise you later.
- How does an advisor start working with HANARE?
- Introduce your agency through the contact page or a mutual introduction, have a short call, and then receive your own advisor-portal account and access code. You submit a client brief and HANARE responds with questions, a direction and a documented proposal. We onboard a small number of advisors at a time.
- Is HANARE a licensed travel business in Japan?
- HANARE is operated by RAC LLC, a company registered in Tokyo. Its registration as a Travel Service Arrangement Business under Japan’s Travel Agency Act is in progress. The registration number will be published on the Company page once issued, and the registered Japanese names and other company details are there now.