Meet Our President
Fumihiro Sakakibara:
Fumihiro Sakakibara founded Mile Post Consultants in 1980, after developing a strong background in the creative fields including travel agency operations, marketing planning, movie and television direction. From its start, he set the company’s core services in tourism research, marketing strategy and planning for destination promotion organizations. Sakakibara has grown to become a pioneer in the tourism industry in Japan. Recognized as a specialist in the industry, he has been invited to various international conferences and seminars — as a facilitator and guest speaker — including the ASEAN Economic Summit and OECD（Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. He has played a role in the Japan Ecotourism Society since its establishment and to date serves as its chairperson. His role as director of various major events include not only the International Ecotourism Meeting in Okinawa, World Tourism Congress organized by Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), but also of Asia’s largest travel trade show “JATA Travel Fair” for many years.
Sakakibara has served as a lecturer for Overseas Seminars at the ASEAN Japan Centre. As the chief researcher for regional development plans in Asia, such as the East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMSR), he designed, managed and drafted various plans. In the field of inbound tourism, he has conducted promotion research for two-way tourism between Tottori Prefecture and Asian markets as well as projects for Tokyo’s Ogasawara Islands and Okinawa’s remote islands. Also, he is currently General Manager, Macao Government Tourism Office, Member of Kamakura City Tourism Promotion Master Plan Study Committee, Management Committee Member of Japan Ecotourism Society and Member of Niigata Prefecture Tourism Promotion Action Plan Committee Inbound Section.
Having amassed in a span of more than four decades of research and statistics involving international tourism with Japan’s travel industry — combined with a wealth of experiences in tourism strategy planning and marketing supports — Sakakibara continues to provide overall marketing strategies and successful programs to clients around the globe. He has also been widely involved in the production of promotional films and TV shows. Furthermore, he has developed strong relationships with major tourism organizations, associations, local authorities, key travel agencies, tour wholesalers, publishers, newspapers and magazines, TV stations and production companies that further enhances the depth of Mile Post Consultants today.