Japan-based airline sends tourists to 'mystery destinations' through vending machines

As the aviation sector has been reeling under the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a Japan-based airline has done something 'out of the box' to attract tourists. According to the reports of the Japan Times, Peach Aviation Limited, an Osaka-based budget airline, has rolled out a marketing campaign to stimulate travel demand. The budget airline used a gachapon capsule to decide the travel destination. The gachapon vending machine--a variety of vending machines used to dispense capsule toys-- has been employed at the airports to dispense mysterious trips for the travellers.

Peach Airline witnessed significant surge in demand for 'mystery destinations'

According to Peach airline officials, the company deployed a gachapon vending machine in August as an experiment. However, witnessing the surge in demand, the airline installed few more machines at the airport. The airline official said that contrary to the expectations, the idea gained significant popularity. 

"Many in the company thought that promoting trips where travellers can't choose the destination probably wouldn't fly. We were thinking that it would be alright if we could sell one capsule per day," The Japan Times quoted Shuntaro Kosasa, brand manager at Peach’s branding and communication department, as saying. "Yet the gachapon suddenly became hot (through social media) and we are really surprised."

Peach Aviation currently offers 'mystery destinations' within Japan

Further, Kosasa said that the Peach airline has sold more than 3,000 capsules in the past three months and added the airline sold as many as 150 tickets on holidays. "It costs ¥5,000 to purchase a capsule, which contains a piece of paper designating a travel destination and a promotion code awarding points to be used toward the purchase of Peach airline tickets to the location received," The Japan Times quoted the airline official.

According to Japan Times, the airline official said that in most cases and at a minimum, customers receive 6,000 points, with each point equivalent to a yen, so they are often getting a ¥1,000 discount. Some capsules offer more than 6,000 points, airline officials said, but they declined to share specific figures. It is worth mentioning that the Osaka-based budget airline offers mysterious travel only within Japan's boundary due to COVID restrictions. 

(Image: Twitter/@BeingKansai)