{"id":11143,"date":"2019-11-21T11:50:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T22:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newtw.tourwriter.com\/?p=11143"},"modified":"2023-10-10T01:45:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T01:45:25","slug":"kizuna-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/kizuna-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Kizuna Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kizuna Travel<\/h1>\n

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Founded by American expat, Bill Michaud, <\/span>Kizuna Travel<\/span><\/a> is a boutique tour operator that takes pride in carefully crafting luxury travel experiences throughout Japan. Despite being a relatively young travel company, Kizuna Travel have quickly been recognised by travellers and agents worldwide for their refreshing and customer lead approach to Japanese travel design. Their pioneering approach to tourism also saw Bill and his team become one of the world\u2019s first tour operators to use the newly launched, Tourwriter itinerary builder, to design, share and collaborate on itineraries with their customers. This is their story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After beginning his life in Japan as an English teacher, Bill grew disenchanted by his life in Asia and promptly returned to his home in Vermont, USA, where he worked towards becoming an accountant. After completing his CPA licence reality hit Bill and he realised that he truly did love Japan. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t that life in the States was all the sudden worse – I had my family nearby, Vermont is gorgeous, American food is awesome – I just somehow missed Japan,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn the 5 years living in Japan on my first stint, I had come to associate this place as my new home, adjusted to life here, and actually loved it. I just didn\u2019t realize how much,\u201d Bill added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"tailor-made<\/p>\n

With this revelation, Bill promptly returned to Japan and began working as an accountant at Deloitte in Tokyo. Despite loving his job, Tokyo was a far cry from the idyllic life he had grown to love in Kanazawa. When Kim Keefe, Executive Director at a luxury Japanese tour operator, approached Bill offering him a job as an accountant at their company, which was also based in Kanazawa, the offer was too good for Bill to pass up. Bill reflected, \u201c I found myself back in Kanazawa, this time working in luxury travel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

English teacher and accountant do not typically feature on a resume of someone in the luxury travel industry, but for Bill, tourism fitted like a glove. \u201cIn just 2 short years I went from zero knowledge of the travel world to having a complete understanding of how a luxury DMC works; from the very first email to apply for a trade show to paying the very last invoice on a finished trip and everything in between,\u201d said Bill. \u201cTo say I got here by accident would be an understatement, but I am forever grateful to have a mentor, friend, and even sister-like person like Kim in my life,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a number of years, it was time for Bill to move on. \u201cI was burned out and needed time.\u00a0 Kim had also left a couple of months prior. We kept in touch…Kim was gently nudging me to start something,\u201d said Bill. And start something he did…in February 2018 Bill took the plunge and opened Kizuna Travel. Driven by his undying belief that a DMC\u2019s first priority is to serve and take care of guests, Kizuna has grown rapidly. \u201cFancy bells and whistles are always nice, but to me, they meant nothing if we couldn\u2019t listen to guests and support them,\u201d explained Bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Online<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue, sincere kindness is a rare commodity these days,\u201d added Bill. In a rapidly expanding market, where bookings and experiences are continually moving online, Kizuna has quickly proven to be a beacon of light, offering travellers a truly personalised approach to Japanese luxury travel. Despite having less than 2 years under their belt, the Kizuna team are already turning heads with their deep focus on flawlessly executed itineraries, hand crafted experiences and a perfect blend of traditional and modern Japanese culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill\u2019s vision for Kizuna Travel is resulting in some seriously impressed customers, \u201cOur trip was wonderful and a most memorable 35th wedding anniversary. We cannot thank you enough for all of your help crafting a most amazing first trip to Japan for us. Please express our gratitude to the guides and car drivers!\u00a0 Everyone you assigned to take care of us did a superb job, as did you!\u201d said one delighted traveller. For Bill and his team, it\u2019s feedback like this that keeps them propelling forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill\u2019s desire to \u2018redefine Japanese DMC excellence\u2019 saw him search for a travel software solution that would set Kizuna apart from the rest. \u201c<\/span>We wanted a solution that would allow us to be fast, efficient and ultimately increase our conversions,\u201d <\/span>explained Bill. That search initially saw the Kizuna team sign up to use a popular American based travel app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The travel app solution they initially selected was satisfactory, but it didn\u2019t tick all of Bill\u2019s boxes, \u201cIt was actually not very fast to load items. It was quite slow…it could be 5 seconds of spinning its wheels until a photograph appears in the itinerary,\u201d explained Bill. His desire to transform his small team into a hyper productive one saw Bill resume his search for itinerary builder software. That search lead him to Tourwriter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Luxury<\/p>\n

Bill was instantly drawn to the fact that he could have a state of the art solution that had been built by experts who have been in the business of tour operator software for more than a decade. \u201c<\/span>With Tourwriter I get the best of both worlds, a brand new product that is going to grow with us, but it\u2019s supported by a team that knows what it takes to build the best tour operator software,<\/span>\u201d said Bill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Very quickly Bill and the Kizuna team knew the speed issues they had experienced with their former software were resolved, \u201cIt\u2019s fast. I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing, but when I search for something in Tourwriter, it\u2019s right there instantly. I love that about Tourwriter,\u201d said Bill. Tourwriter\u2019s speed and mobile responsiveness has allowed Bill to be more flexible with his working style, he explained, \u201cI actually upgraded my own personal computing to match the mobile fast speed of Tourwriter. So I went out and I got the new iPad Pro and I can just touch and click my way through everything. It\u2019s been so smooth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Luxury<\/p>\n

Tourwriter\u2019s speed hasn\u2019t just eliminated Kizuna\u2019s slow loading frustrations, it is also allowing their travel designers to produce their world-class itineraries faster than they can believe. Bill explained, \u201cRecently with a new staff member I decided I wanted to show her how fast we could create itineraries with Tourwriter. In 20 minutes I filled out an entire itinerary, all while she was on a phone call,\u201d her response was simply, \u2018holy cow!\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

When designing Tourwriter, the team knew they wanted to create a software that would make the travel design process more enjoyable, while also allowing users to send their customers breathtaking itineraries. These two things have been life changing for Bill and his team. \u201cTourwriter is very visual. I can pull up an itinerary and I can actually see everything at a glance. Other travel software solutions are so data heavy, but with Tourwriter everything is so modular. I can easily add and remove activities. It\u2019s so simple and stress free,\u201d exclaimed Bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Digital<\/p>\n

Working both directly with travellers and with agents, the Kizuna team have found Tourwriter\u2019s sleek, image rich itineraries are helping them win more business in both the B2B and B2C spaces. \u201cI\u2019ve received a lot of compliments about the layout of Tourwriter. People are like \u2018this is gorgeous, I love it!\u2019\u201d said Bill. Interestingly, Tourwriter\u2019s itinerary design is also proving to be a popular value-add for travellers, Bill explained, \u201cPeople are asking to keep their itinerary proposal as a momento of their trip. It\u2019s so beautiful that they want to look back on it and share it with their friends and family.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the founder of a young travel business that is growing rapidly, Bill is quickly discovering the importance of scalability and good process management. To his delight, Tourwriter has been more than an itinerary builder for his team, it\u2019s proven to be a valuable asset that he can rely on as Kizuna continues to grow. \u201cI\u2019ve just added another person to my team and I think that\u2019s going to be it for the foreseeable future. I would rather see how much we can get out of our team and Tourwriter, than just keep throwing bodies at the work,\u201d explained Bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"online<\/p>\n

As a business owner, Bill quickly recognised that itinerary builder software like Tourwriter can bring just as much value to his business as staff can. This revelation has helped Bill optimise his team and add maximum value to the Kizuna customer experience. \u201cRather than using people to do the basics I would rather let Tourwriter do that, and then we can find other ways to use our people to add value. Tourwriter doesn\u2019t get sick, it doesn\u2019t take holidays and it doesn\u2019t need employment insurance,\u201d said Bill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as launching a new travel business, Bill and his wife Mia have also just started their own journey into parenthood. Bill’s new role has given him a new perspective on the importance of finding balance, \u201cI don\u2019t want everything to be dependent on me. If I want to disappear for a few days, or if someone else left, obviously it\u2019s going to hurt, but it\u2019s not going to be detrimental. I want to create a system to make that manageable, and Tourwriter is making that possible,\u201d Bill explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire team at Tourwriter are extremely honoured to be working with a tour operator that is so dedicated to their craft. We know the future is bright for this fabulous company; we are so thrilled to be a part of their special journey and to have Kizuna Travel as a Tourwriter customer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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When translated, \u2018Kizuna\u2019 means bond, and staying true to their namesake, this Kizuna Travel team are obsessed with connecting with customers and offering impeccable service. Read more to learn why this meticulous tour operator chose Tourwriter to help them design and deliver their world class, luxury Japan itineraries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[16,8,9,44,10,45],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-11143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-b2b","tag-b2c","tag-inbound-tour-operator","tag-japan","tag-luxury","tag-tailor-made-itineraries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11143"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17757,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143\/revisions\/17757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11143"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourwriter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=11143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}