On 2026年5月2日, Japan's largest cultural and tourism group, JTB, launched the second-phase tender for its 2026 China study tour products, explicitly increasing the weighting of the technical score for the themed route 'Luoyang Peony Cultural Festival' from 20% to 35%. This adjustment directly affects the design, curriculum development, and service delivery capabilities of China study tour travel products for the Japanese market, and has a substantive impact on such niche sectors as study tour curriculum development institutions, international cultural and tourism destination service providers, interdisciplinary teacher training institutions, and emergency medical collaboration platforms, which deserves close industry attention.

Event Overview

On 2026年5月2日, Japan's JTB officially launched the second-phase tender for its 2026 China study tour products. The tender documents make it clear that the weighting of the technical score for the themed route 'Luoyang Peony Cultural Festival' has been increased from 20% in the previous phase to 35%; the key evaluation dimensions include depth of cultural interpretation, interdisciplinary curriculum design (history + biology + fine arts), stability of bilingual teaching staff, and emergency medical coordination mechanisms; local suppliers in Henan must submit a complete teaching delivery package before 2026年5月20日.

Which niche industries will be affected

Study tour curriculum development institutions

As the weighting of the technical score has increased significantly, the quality of course content has become a key variable in winning the bid. The impact is reflected as follows: the competitiveness of single-attraction guided-tour proposals declines, and it becomes necessary to systematically integrate interdisciplinary knowledge modules such as historical evolution, botanical characteristics (such as peony variety evolution and cultivation techniques), and traditional artistic expressions (meticulous peony painting, Luoyang embroidery patterns); courses must pre-establish bilingual teaching scripts and evaluation forms, and must pass the JTB certification process.

International cultural and tourism destination service providers

As the local execution entity in Luoyang, its role is shifting from resource coordination to the central hub of teaching delivery. The impact is reflected as follows: it must directly assume responsibilities such as teacher backup filing, course implementation verification, and signing medical cooperation agreements; existing reception-only teams without educational qualifications or records of bilingual teaching will find it difficult to meet the hard requirements of the tender; the service quotation structure must separately list the cost items for curriculum development and teacher management.

Interdisciplinary teacher training institutions

The stability of bilingual teaching staff has been listed as an independent evaluation item, meaning that short-term external hiring or temporary deployment models are no longer applicable. The impact is reflected as follows: it is necessary to establish traceable teacher files (including teaching hours, academic background, Japanese language proficiency certificates, and emergency training records); the training content must cover practical modules such as general knowledge of peony culture, cognitive characteristics of Japanese middle school students, and classroom emergency response procedures.

Emergency medical collaboration platforms

'Emergency medical coordination mechanism' has entered the technical scoring system for the first time and is a newly added compliance threshold. The impact is reflected as follows: it is necessary to sign legally binding service memorandums with local top-tier hospitals in Luoyang or partners such as International SOS, and provide verifiable clauses on response timeliness (such as on-site intervention within 30 minutes), bilingual medical interpretation and translation, and cross-border insurance coordination; non-medical service providers that do not embed this link in advance will directly lose eligibility for technical scoring.

What key points should relevant companies or practitioners pay attention to, and how should they respond at present

Pay attention to the details of the subsequently released 'Guidelines for Compiling Teaching Delivery Packages' by JTB

The current tender only clarifies the weighting and direction, and has not yet released operational documents such as the course outline template, teacher certification standards, and medical agreement templates. Local suppliers in Henan should closely track the JTB China official website and designated agency channels, obtain and study all attachments before 5月10日, and avoid failing the formal review due to submissions based on experience alone.

Prioritize completing cross-verification of bilingual teachers' Japanese teaching ability and academic qualifications

The tender emphasizes 'stability' rather than merely language certificates. It is recommended to immediately review the existing teacher pool and verify whether they simultaneously possess: ① JLPT N2 or above Japanese language proficiency certification; ② a teacher qualification certificate in any one of history/biology/fine arts or a related university academic background; ③ actual teaching records in peony culture-themed courses within the past year. None of the three can be missing.

Simultaneously initiate the signing and filing process for medical cooperation agreements

The emergency medical coordination mechanism requires immediately deployable written credentials. It is recommended to complete intention communication with the International Medical Department of Luoyang Central Hospital or designated foreign-related medical institutions in Henan Province before 5月10日, sign the first draft of the service memorandum before 5月15日, and reserve time for the JTB review and revision cycle.

Distinguish between the increased weighting of technical scores and actual changes in procurement scale

The increased weighting reflects JTB's strategic tilt toward culturally in-depth products, but it does not mean that the total volume of orders for Luoyang routes will necessarily grow. It should be noted that this is a second-phase tender, covering only part of the spring schedule; the final procurement quantity still depends on booking conditions from Japanese schools. Companies should avoid blindly expanding capacity and instead prioritize delivery quality and a closed compliance loop.

Editor's Viewpoint / Industry Observation

Obviously, this weighting adjustment is more like a structural signal than an immediate business result. It marks that mainstream Japanese study tour buyers are shifting from 'resource-combination' procurement to 'educational delivery capability-oriented' procurement—cultural IP is no longer merely an itinerary highlight, but has become the underlying logical anchor point of curriculum design. Analysis shows that the 35% technical weighting is already close to the price score (usually 40%), meaning that educational professionalism now carries decision-making weight equal to cost control for the first time. From an industry perspective, this is not an isolated event, but a phased manifestation of China-Japan cultural and tourism cooperation extending deeper into educational services; what is more worthy of attention at present is whether a similar evaluation model will subsequently be replicated in other cultural themes (such as Dunhuang and Qufu).

Conclusion
The core significance of this tender adjustment lies in upgrading the Luoyang Peony Cultural Festival from a tourism attraction to a core carrier of educational products, forcing the domestic supply side to strengthen interdisciplinary integration capabilities and the standardization level of educational services. At present, it is more appropriate to understand it as a compliance stress test oriented toward professional capability, rather than simply a market opportunity window. The key to a rational response lies in focusing on the construction of verifiable delivery elements, rather than broadly interpreting cultural popularity.

Information source note
Main source: JTB Group 2026 China Study Tour Products Second-Phase Tender Announcement (release date: 2026年5月2日)
Parts requiring continued observation: the official release time and specific content of the 'Guidelines for Compiling Teaching Delivery Packages', the actual number of applications and pass rate of local suppliers in Luoyang, and whether JTB will subsequently expand the coverage of interdisciplinary themed routes