Small Businesses Going International:
Tokyo Tourism Coping with the Pandemic

The Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center provides support to businesses in Tokyo. In the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has received more than 30,000 business consultations. Prior to the pandemic, products that combine tradition and innovation sold like hotcakes in international trade shows. Today, the inbound tourism market that was worth over 1.2 trillion yen in souvenirs, etc. has fallen to just 20%, and shops and manufacturers of these goods continue to struggle. This segment follows the center’s efforts to support such businesses.