Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kansai Economic Federation, Kansai Association of Corporate Executives, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
○ Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as “OCCI”), Kansai Economic Federation, Kansai Association of Corporate Executives and Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition (hereinafter referred to as “the Association”) compiled the results of the participant survey on the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Briefing Session on the Water Routes held on July 19.
○ More than half of respondents would like to consider participation utilizing the information obtained at the briefing session. About 60% of them were interested in Yumeshima tours utilizing water routes (all respondents from travel agencies said they were interested.) and 40% were interested in the use of the Yumeshima floating pier. When those interested in using the the Yumeshima floating pier were asked about the frequency of its use, about 20% answered that they would like to use it every day, about 10% answered that they would like to use it once or twice per week.
○ Based on the results of this survey, OCCI and the Association will work together to conduct interviews with business operators, and to realize the specifics of water routes to the Expo site.
○ Survey period: from Wednesday, July 19, 2023 to Wednesday, July 26, 2023
○ Respondents: 273 participants of the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Briefing Session on the Water Routes
※ Ship operators, travel agencies, and local government officials participated in the briefing session.
※ The briefing session was conducted as a hybrid, being held at the venue (Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and via online streaming.
○ Survey method: Participants on-site who filled out the survey form and those online who answered via web form.
○ Number of valid answers: 192 (percentage of valid answers: 70.3%)
1.Satisfaction
〇 In regards to the briefing session, almost 90% answered that they were satisfied (“satisfied“ 30.2%), (“generally satisfied“ 59.4%).
（Main opinions）
・ (from a “satisfied” respondent) There was a lack of information on the water routes during the Expo, but it is useful that information was disseminated in this way.
・ (from a “generally satisfied” respondent ) The size of the pier at the Expo site has been announced, making it easier for ship operators to plan their projects; however, when considering ship operation, we would like to share information from the planning stage, including the terminal’s specifications and operation methods.
・ (from a “somewhat unsatisfied” respondent “) I would have liked to get some indication of when the reservation for pier use could be completed (can it be done on the same day?) and how much the berthing fees would be.
2. Use of information when considering Expo participation
〇 In the briefing session, there were explanations of plans for the construction of a floating pier and shuttle bus service on Yumeshima, the site of the Expo, as well as the status of budget requests to the government for the creation of tourism products that utilize the water routes.
〇 When considering participation in the Expo, the percentage of respondents who answered that they “would like to utilize” the information they have obtained at the briefing session reached more than half of the respondents (54.1%).
3. Content of interest
〇 When considering participation in the Expo, when participants who responded that they “would like to use” the information provided at the briefing session (104 participants) were asked about what information they were interested in (multiple answers allowed), the most common response among all respondents (55.8%) was “Creation of Yumeshima tours utilizing the water routes”, and for travel agency respondents (15 persons), that percentage was 100%.
〇 Among respondents from shipping companies (18 persons), the “use of the Yumeshima floating pier (for small vessels)” (55.6%) and the use of the Yumeshima floating pier (for medium-sized vessels) (44.4%) received high percentages of responses.
4. Frequency of use of the Yumeshima floating pier
〇 When participants (46 persons) who answered that they were interested in the “use of Yumeshima floating piers (for small and medium vessels)” were asked how often they would use them, the most common response was “don’t know” (39.1%), followed by “several times during the Expo period” (26.1%).
〇 Among the respondents from shipping companies (15 persons), 26.7% answered “every day” and 33.3% answered “several times during the Expo period,” while among the respondents from travel agencies (2 persons), “every day” accounted for 100%.
5. Questions and comments on the briefing session
〇 We would like to ask you to hold this session and disseminate information regularly.
〇 Ship transportation may be intended to supplement road and rail transportation for visitors, but I am concerned about whether the transportation capacity and safety of the system are sufficient. It is easily expected that terminals, including buses, will be congested.
〇 The briefing session would have been more interesting if concrete numerical aspects for realization could have been expressed
<Next step>
〇 OCCI and the Association will conduct interviews, etc. with some of the business operators that responded to the survey, and will also discuss the specifics of water routes to the Expo site.
〇 The Association plans to conduct another survey on the use of floating piers by late September.
【Attachments】
Material 1: Outline of 「Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, Briefing Session on the Water Routes」 (Japanese)
Material 2: Survey results, 「Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Briefing Session on the Water Routes」 Participant Survey Results (English)
■ For business operators and local governments
・About the briefing session and survey results
Regional Development Division , Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Tel：06-6944-6323
・About the water routes of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, Transportation Department, Transportation Planning Division
Tel: 06-6625-8675
■For news media
・ About the briefing session and survey results
Regional Development Division, Osaka Chamber of Commerce and industry,
Tel：06-6944-6323
・ About Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Public Relations Department, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
e-mail: media@expo2025.or.jp