OKINI Simultaneously Debuts at Two Major Travel Expos

At the end of August, FMI accomplished a groundbreaking milestone by participating in major travel expos in both Taiwan and Singapore on the very same day. Our main focus was promoting OKINI, allowing more people to discover our meticulously crafted Japan minpaku (vacation rental) booking platform. To prepare for these two major expos, the Hong Kong OKINI home team and our Chief of HOMES colleagues in Osaka headed to Taiwan and Singapore simultaneously. With the support of our local branch teams, everyone worked together to successfully exceed our goals. The team felt a tremendous amount of pressure preparing for these two exhibitions, as we were essentially newcomers to travel expos, making manpower and experience significant challenges.

With exhibitions running concurrently in two places, how did I manage to split myself between them? This time, I chose to attend the TITE International Travel Fair in Taiwan. The reason is simple: I am Singaporean, so I am already very familiar with Singapore. However, Taiwan is an entirely new market for me, and I wanted to experience firsthand the scale and culture of a Taiwanese travel expo. Upon seeing it, I found it completely different from Singapore. This was FMI's second time participating in a travel expo in Taiwan, and my first time attending in person—it was truly an eye-opener! Taiwanese people are naturally enthusiastic, and when it comes to sales and promotion, they add an extra layer of passion. Exhibitors stand on stage and use microphones to draw crowds, giving it the vibe of a Taiwanese night market. This kind of intensity is rarely seen in exhibition venues in Hong Kong and Singapore. Taiwanese people have always been familiar with Japan and have a very clear grasp of the minpaku concept. Generally speaking, anyone who stepped into the OKINI booth was looking for conveniently located, high value-for-money vacation rentals, so booking rates were exceptionally ideal.

As for NATAS Holidays in Singapore, it is Singapore's largest travel expo, featuring exhibitors from all over the world, including Hong Kong travel agencies. As first-time participants, many visitors and exhibitors were quite curious, because OKINI was the only app dedicated to booking Japanese accommodations at the entire event, which felt very fresh to everyone. Throughout the three-day exhibition, we were non-stop. The opening hours for the Singapore travel expo were exceptionally long—from 10:00 AM to 9:30 PM, nearly twelve hours a day. Why? Because Singaporeans love to travel and are extremely enthusiastic about travel expos, with many visitors returning for all three days. Some guests came to the OKINI booth on the first day for detailed inquiries, and then reappeared on the third day to book directly.

Interestingly, some of our minpaku buyers also visited the Singapore travel expo. They were pleasantly surprised to see us there and repeatedly praised us for our dedication. Ask yourself: which developer or management company would spend money and effort to participate in travel exhibitions? We pull out all the stops and use every possible resource to promote minpaku rentals, with the ultimate goal of boosting occupancy rates and rental income for our owners. This touched our clients deeply and gave them even greater confidence in our future management. The results of the Singapore travel expo far exceeded our expectations. Because travel time from Singapore to Japan is longer, Singaporeans don't do quick weekend getaways; instead, they plan longer itineraries, exploring the Kansai region comprehensively (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe), or starting in Tokyo and heading straight down to Kansai. Our original goal was simply to let more people know about OKINI and recruit members through the travel expo. Unexpectedly, after gaining a deep understanding, many people were so attracted by FMI's minpaku properties that they not only became renters but also wanted to take the next step and become owners, resulting in the sale of multiple units—an unexpected bonus!

Since the beginning of this year, we have successively participated in travel expos in Hong Kong, Seoul, Taiwan, and Singapore to introduce OKINI. We expect to make at least six appearances this year, making this definitely our biggest project of the year. The grand finale will take place in Tokyo this September for the international travel exhibition, and we are already hard at work preparing for it. We will share more good news once we have updates.

OKINI simultaneously debuted at the Taiwan and Singapore international travel expos.