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Record surge in international skiers drive tourism growth in Japan: Visa

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International visitors account for nearly 50% year-on-year growth in visits and over 90% of overall spend[1]Niseko, Hakuba and Furano within Japan are top ski destinations across Asia Pacific, [2] as shown by cardholder spend Post ski activities show international visitors going beyond ski destinations, extending their stay in Japan and spending about 35% more daily[3]

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — With peak ski season transforming to Spring blossoms, Visa, a world leader in digital payments, today revealed data showing growing popularity of Japan as a ski holiday destination among international travellers as number of visitors surpassed pre-pandemic levels, setting a fresh record.

Based on analysis of Visa cardholders’ spending patterns during the winter peak (November 2024February 2025) in the top ski destinations in Japan,[4] the data shows around 40% year-on-year increase in number of domestic and international visitors as well as an uplift of about 25% in total spending. International visitors accounted for about 80% of total visitors and around 90% of total visitor spend.[1] 

Growing international allure of Japan as a ski destination 

Visa data shows ski tourism in Japan is on the rise with the overall number of visitors having almost doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels.

A popular ski destination for overseas travellers with international arrivals growing nearly 50% year-on-year, accounting for around 80% of all ski travellers during recent winter peak.[1]A substantial influx of visitors from the region and beyond: Australia tops the list accounting for around 30% of total international visitors, followed by the United States (around 20%) and Southeast Asia, especially from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, collectively accounting for around 12%.[2]Japan is now the preferred ski destination for Mainland Chinese travellers. For Australian travellers, Japan ranks second after New Zealand.[2]Niseko and Hakuba remain top picks (nearly 50% and approximately 35%, respectively) for international ski travellers, while Furano is shown as a preferred destination for local visitors yet sees the fastest growth with around 70% year-on-year increase in overseas visits.[1]

 

International travellers drive overall spend and venture beyond ski destinations

While on average domestic visitors show a slightly longer stay (about 5 days), international travellers spend more than 3 times as much per day, contributing to about 90% of overall spend.[1] The uplift in spend is extended beyond ski destinations as international travellers continue their journey to other locations and spend in dining and retail shopping.

Entertainment, lodging, and restaurants accounted for about 50 to 70 percent of spending by both overseas and local travellers.[1]Ski resort experience spending[5] takes up over 40% of overall spend by international travellers.Growing preference of contactless shown as they take up over 80% of total spend among international visitors. Nearly half of these transactions were mobile-based, showing a growth of about 30% from a year ago. [6]Over 90% of overseas travellers extend trips beyond the slopes by an average of 9 extra days in Japan, driving around 35% more post-ski spending per day in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Chiba, with the bulk of post-ski spending being on shopping such as at department stores, discount stores, and for groceries (around 40% in total) and dining (around 20%).[7]

Prateek Sanghi, Head of Visa Consulting and Analytics, Asia Pacific, said: “Our data not only indicates the growing appeal of Japan as a ski destination among international travellers but also can provide a powerful lens that can help better understand shifting travel and spending patterns of both domestic and overseas visitors. By leveraging data-driven consumer insights, governments and especially local businesses can better optimise their offerings, enhance traveller experiences, and modernise payment methods for the varying visitor segments.”

Visa’s payments data, consulting services and in-house data science capabilities enable organisations with key insights to help them enhance visitor experiences, optimise business strategies, and drive economic growth across the travel and commerce ecosystem. 

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at https://www.visa.com

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[1] Identified by comparing both resident and non-resident cardholders who made in-person transactions at the ski destinations during two distinct periods: 16 November 2024 to 15 February 2025, and 16 November 2023 to 15 February 2024. For resident cardholders, only those who had not made any transactions at the same ski destination in the previous six months were included.

[2] Identified by examining the top outbound countries by number of cardholders based on international in-person card spending for countries in the Asia Pacific region between 16 November 2024 to 15 February 2025.

[3] Identified by comparing in-person transactions made by non-resident cardholders at ski destinations between 16 November 2024 and 15 February 2025, with their in-person transactions at non-ski destinations after visiting the ski destinations.

[4] For simplicity in this analysis, ski destinations are defined by the specific city, town, village, or ward where popular ski resorts are located, using the most granular level available. The regions covered include: Niseko, Kutchan, Rankoshi, Yamanouchi, Yamagata, Furano, Nozawaonsen, Hakuba, and Yuzawa.

[5] Refers to spendings on entertainment like onsens (hot springs), childcare, and local tours unique to each ski resort.

[6] Identified by examining in-person contactless transaction volumes by non-resident cardholders at ski destinations during two distinct periods: 16 November 2024 to 15 February 2025, and 16 November 2023 to 15 February 2024.

[7] Identified by comparing in-person transactions made by non-resident cardholders at ski destinations between 16 November 2024 and 15 February 2025, with their in-person transactions at non-ski destinations after visiting the ski destinations.

 

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SOURCE Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd

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Ericsson Upgrades to Gold Membership in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation to Drive Cloud Native Transformation in Telecom

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Ericsson expands cloud native innovation in telecom, leveraging CNCF projects to advance 5G and 6G

LONDON, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe — The Cloud Native Computing Foundation® (CNCF®), which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today announced that Ericsson has upgraded its membership to Gold to strengthen its commitment to CNCF projects critical to telecom applications.

Ericsson has upgraded its membership to strengthen its commitment to CNCF projects critical to telecom applications.

Through its CNCF engagement, the company is helping shape industry standards that will drive the future of 5G and 6G networks. Its investment in cloud native adoption supports the transition to 5G and development of 6G, reinforcing scalability, security, and efficiency in next-generation networking.

“Cloud native technology is essential for the future of telecom networks, enabling greater scalability, flexibility, and operational efficiency,” said Phil Robb, Head Of Ericsson Software Technology. “Upgrading to a CNCF Gold Membership allows us to take a more active role in shaping the open source ecosystem that underpins 5G and 6G. This move strengthens our ability to engage in  key cloud native developments, ensuring they align with the needs of modern telecom infrastructure. We look forward to deeper collaboration with CNCF and its community to drive meaningful innovation.”

Ericsson actively contributes to CNCF and other open source initiatives that support telecom innovation. The company leads advancements in bare-metal provisioning in Kubernetes through contributions to Metal3, critical for managing the lifecycle of bare-metal infrastructure in 5G core and radio applications. Additionally, Ericsson plays a key role in advancing service meshes such as Istio and Envoy to meet the performance and security needs of cloud native telecom applications.

Security remains a top priority as Ericsson strengthens cloud native adoption across the telecom sector. The company collaborates with CNCF and the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) to define industry-wide security baselines. By implementing best practices and aligning with frameworks like the Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), Ericsson reinforces robust security measures across the cloud native ecosystem, ensuring resilient and trustworthy telecom applications.

“Ericsson’s decision to invest in a CNCF gold membership underscores the growing role of cloud native technologies in the telco industry,” said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of CNCF. “Their deeper investment will strengthen the ecosystem, drive advancements in cloud native networking, and help shape the evolution of cloud native telco infrastructure. We look forward to their continued contributions and collaboration.”

As a CNCF Gold Member, Ericsson joins a network of industry leaders committed to advancing cloud native innovation. Through strengthened collaboration with CNCF, Ericsson aims to accelerate the adoption of cloud native principles within telecom and contribute to the evolution of next-generation networking solutions.

To become a CNCF member, visit: https://www.cncf.io/about/join/

Additional Resources

CNCF NewsletterCNCF TwitterCNCF WebsiteLearn About CNCF MembershipLearn About the CNCF End User Community

About Cloud Native Computing Foundation

Cloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private, and hybrid clouds. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy. CNCF brings together top developers, end users, and vendors and runs the largest open source developer conferences in the world. Supported by more than 800 members, including major cloud computing and software companies, as well as over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, please visit www.cncf.io.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact
Kaitlin Thornhill
The Linux Foundation
pr@cncf.io 

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SOURCE Cloud Native Computing Foundation

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Biologit Boosts Patient Safety with World-First Automated Local Literature Monitoring Solution for Non-Indexed Sources

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* Biologit for Local Literature™ delivers results 15 x faster than traditional searches, and is considerably more accurate and reliable. * The new managed service, already live at a top 10 pharma company, harnesses a technology ingestion model built by Biologit to fill a critical gap in pharmacovigilance, at scale. *Local literature surveillance is a highly resource-intensive mandatory activity, with significant budget implications yet with relative low yield for safety events.

DUBLIN, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Biologit, a specialist in advanced, technology-enabled safety surveillance solutions for life sciences, has launched a world-first automation solution for local literature monitoring. Biologit for Local Literature™ solves the costly and complex problem of how to reliably identify adverse events and relevant safety information across the full spectrum of local literature sources, including non-indexed and hard-to-access country-specific publications.

This is a huge breakthrough for pharmacovigilance and patient safety. Truly comprehensive local literature screening has been a huge headache – and cost – for the pharma industry up to now.

The new managed data service, which is already live at a top 10 global biopharma company, fills a critical gap in current international safety surveillance. That’s because a significant proportion of adverse events first come to light via discrete local medical publications and online sources that are not picked up by routine open-source global literature searches. The activity’s critical importance is recognised by regulators, which mandate that pharma companies screen for safety events in all relevant markets.

The traditional screening process for local medical literature is inefficient and unreliable:

Highly manual and time-consuming, it requires dedicated staff at an affiliate or regional level;It yields only limited safety information. Errors and omissions are common;These issues are compounded by inconsistency in the format, indexing; access issues (e.g. paid subscriptions/print-only formats); language barriers; and variances in regulators’ reporting expectations.

Biologit for Local Literature uses advanced technology to overcome this challenge, efficiently, reliably and at scale. It has been shown to yield a 15-fold acceleration in safety event reporting when applied to a broad spectrum of local sources across 30 EU countries, with impressive accuracy.

Optimised algorithms, closely governed

Biologit for Local Literature uses a technology-based ingestion model developed by Biologit’s expert engineers. Each source is evaluated, and proprietary technology methods (including optimised algorithms that act as automated ‘crawlers’ per site) are used to support the ingest of any non-indexed in-country literature source as required. Even hard-to-reach print sources, conference proceedings and websites are included. As part of the managed service, Biologit’s operations team then confirms the findings manually, balancing process innovation with strong governance to contain any risk and ensure the product is audit-ready.

This innovative solution complements the company’s existing Biologit Database™, an extensive and continuously updated range of indexed, open-source global, regional and national medical publications and online resources. The ability to screen more diverse, non-standardised local sources in a reliable and highly efficient way – and filter searches by country – via Biologit’s new bespoke managed data service, rounds off the solution suite.

The combined 360-degree screening is powered by Biologit Platform™, Biologit’s powerful scientific literature monitoring platform, which features flexible workflow and unique AI productivity features. Biologit for Local Literature removes the final source of pain and risk from literature monitoring, raising the overall benefit to patient safety. ALL safety events are accessible via a single window, or query.

Delivered via the Biologit Platform, Biologit for Local Literature covers all countries and includes automated machine translation for hundreds of languages. The innovative technology allows for country-level data filtering for specific local searches, and individual country reporting and audit trails. It also supports single, integrated searches for global and local safety events.

Commenting on the significance of Biologit for Local Literature, Nicole Baker, Biologit’s CEO and co-founder, said:

“This is a huge breakthrough for pharmacovigilance and patient safety. Truly comprehensive local literature screening has been a huge headache – and cost – for the pharma industry up to now. Worse than that, it hasn’t delivered. This world-first, tech-enabled managed service ensures accurate and complete coverage for all journals, websites and subscription-based publications of interest in a country, delivered with unprecedented efficiency.

“Our use of automation allows us to do this at scale. This is not about assigning large service teams, or trying to track everything in spreadsheets. With Biologit for Local Literature we harness technology including specially-developed crawlers which are fast and reliable, and everything is properly overseen by our skilled people, to verify the accuracy and reliability of the output. Given the high sensitivity of patient safety, and the strict PV/Regulatory requirements, we have taken great pains to balance innovation and risk, and the results are exceeding all expectations.”

A new white paper, A World First: Integrated, Automated Global & Local Literature Monitoring for Pharmacovigilance is available for download on the Biologit website here. To arrange a 1:1 demonstration please email jean.redmond@biologit.com.

About Biologit

Biologit is an innovator in pharmacovigilance (PV), revolutionising the way that life science organisations handle literature review and monitoring, using cutting-edge automation technology wherever appropriate. Founded with a mission to enhance patient safety and operational efficiency, Biologit empowers pharmaceutical, biotech and PV service providers to simplify and streamline their processes. At the heart of Biologit’s Platform is its AI-powered literature automation tool, designed to transform manual and time-intensive tasks into seamless, efficient workflows. Biologit adheres to the highest industry standards, including ISO 27001 certification, GxP compliance, and alignment with FDA regulations.

PR Contact

Carina Birt, Sarum Life Sciences

carina@sarumlifesciences.com

+44 7970 006624

Media Contact

Jean Redmond, biologit, 44 00000000000, jean.redmond@biologit.com, https://www.biologit.com/

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SOURCE biologit

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OSL completes final phase of Project HADO®, setting new standards for autonomous drone operations in the UK

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Successful live trials in the Heathrow FRZ mark a major milestone in the future of secure autonomous drone operations

READING, England, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — OSL has announced the successful completion of the final phase of Project HADO®, a UKRI-funded research and development initiative aimed at enabling secure, repeatable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations across UK airspace. The milestone marks the conclusion of more than two years of intensive innovation, consortium collaboration, and field testing.

OSL led the consortium as prime integrator, bringing together key organisations including Heathrow, Thales, Cranfield University, UAVTEK, Carmenta, HEROTECH8, and Dynamic Intelligence Solutions—each contributing critical expertise across aviation, autonomy, surveillance, and airspace management.

Project HADO® — short for High-Intensity Autonomous Drone Operations — focuses on enabling fully autonomous drone missions in busy, safety-critical environments such as airports, ports, urban centres, and transport hubs. These are spaces where complex air and ground activity makes uncrewed flight especially challenging. While many BVLOS projects explore long-range corridor travel, HADO® was designed to address the far more difficult task of operating autonomously within high-density, operationally complex areas.

In the final series of live trials, OSL deployed its system within the Heathrow Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ), demonstrating two core use cases: perimeter patrol, using visible and thermal cameras to detect loiterers or intrusions along a fence line; and building survey, using automated point-to-point flight and image capture to generate both visual and thermal inspection data.

These missions were supported by a detailed digital twin of the environment, developed in collaboration with Cranfield University. This synthetic modelling environment enabled precise flight planning, environmental awareness, and robust training of the autonomous behaviours required for safe and repeatable operations.

The system is fully integrated into OSL’s proprietary platform, FACE®, which incorporates drone-in-a-box infrastructure, layered sensor fusion, Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) tools, and a real-time operator interface. This end-to-end capability allows for safe, automated missions even in GPS-denied or dynamically changing environments.

One of the outcomes of this final phase is the development of a rapidly deployable mobile HADO® system—allowing organisations to set up autonomous drone operations on-site within a single day. This flexibility opens the door to a wide range of applications, from critical infrastructure inspection to urban safety and emergency response.

The project also delivered significant advances in detect-and-avoid functionality—widely considered one of the key challenges to safe BVLOS flight. By combining radar, optical sensors, and real-time environmental scanning with AI-driven logic, the system can autonomously detect risks, adjust its flight path, or safely return to base.

“Project HADO® has been a defining moment for OSL,” said Mark Legh-Smith, Chief Executive Officer at OSL. “We’ve taken a bold vision and delivered a functioning, field-tested system that brings together autonomy, safety, and situational awareness. It’s a milestone not just for our team, but for the future of UK airspace.”

OSL continues to work closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to support the safe expansion of BVLOS operations in the UK. The comprehensive safety framework, operational data, and successful trials at OSL’s test facility near Reading are helping to inform the evolution of the UK’s regulatory environment.

Looking ahead, the technologies developed in HADO® are intended to support a wide range of civil and commercial use cases beyond the security domain — including infrastructure monitoring, transport hub management, and smart city applications. OSL and its partners are actively exploring future opportunities to deploy and evolve the system in line with operational needs.

About OSL
OSL is a UK-based security technology company specialising in adaptive, multi-layered solutions to protect high-value, risk-prone environments from unauthorised drones and other emerging threats. Founded by security and operational experts, OSL delivers advanced, technology-agnostic systems that integrate layered sensors, proprietary AI, and real-time data fusion to safeguard complex 3D spaces.

Its core platform, FACE®, enables centralised monitoring, precise threat detection, and autonomous response capabilities across both aerial and ground domains. From design and deployment to 24/7 remote monitoring and lifecycle support, OSL provides full-spectrum protection tailored to each operational environment.
www.osltechnology.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/osl-completes-final-phase-of-project-hado-setting-new-standards-for-autonomous-drone-operations-in-the-uk-302417362.html

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