This year marks the 60th anniversary of Japan Airlines’ international service to Honolulu.

We extend our sincere appreciation to the Hawaii Tourism Authority and many partners in the local community for their support.

Hawaii remains one of the most popular destinations among Japanese travelers, and the Aloha State offers more than just the sandy shores and warm surf of Waikiki.

Japanese visitors appreciate friendly local residents imbued with the spirit of aloha embracing people from outside. It is, after all, where East meets West that contributes to unique cultural and ethnic diversities. Learning-based tourism such as cultural tourism and educational tourism may play important roles in appealing to the next generations of Japanese travelers who seek more varied itineraries.

In an effort to capture these travelers, we are working with tour operators and travel agencies to offer visitors with learning and educational activities — a way to explore Hawaii’s rich history and cultures for those seeking something more personally fulfilling.

In 2013, JAL transported nearly half a million customers between Japan and Hawaii. Currently, most of the Japanese visitors remain in Oahu during their stay. The beauties and charms of the neighbor islands are yet to be discovered by most Japanese visitors, and we recognize some potential growth there.

In order to better serve the neighbor islands, we will continue to operate more charters to Kona on the Big Island, and work to improve on connections to interisland flights from Honolulu to offer convenience and flexibility.

For the first time, JAL sponsored the Hapalua, the 3rd annual half-marathon event held in April, traditionally the weakest month in travel demand among Japanese. Concurrently, we saw 802 runners from Japan — out of 4,632 total runners — take to the streets of Honolulu, compared to 200 and 159 Japanese entrants (out of 2,895 and 2,941) in 2012 and 2013, respectively. We think it is a great venue for novice runners who may find a full marathon too daunting. The sponsorship of the event is another example how our company is working to expand the Japanese tourist segment that benefits local communities.

These days, visitors value access to the Internet above almost all else. Visitors rely on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to check on flight status, find places to eat and drink, get directions, and instantly share their experiences over SNS (social networking sites) such as Facebook, Twitter and Line, the most popular SNS in Japan.

Hawaii has some catching up to do when it comes to free public Wi-Fi access as competing destinations around the world are racing to invest in Wi-Fi becoming more tourist-friendly and raising the expectations of visitors.

As for air lift, JAL is currently serving Honolulu with six flights a day from four cities in Japan that include Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Nagoya. And as always, customer services are based on the customer principles of “Tradition,” “Innovation” and the “Spirit of Japan.”

Teiji Murayama is vice president and regional manager in Hawaii for Japan Airlines.