Japan Rail Pass Tops Digital 100 Ranking of Fastest Growing Travel and Tourism Sites

Spotlight Vegas, One World Observatory, Zipair, Japan Wonder Travel, Norse, Klook, American Queen Voyages, China Airlines, and the Brightline railroad also top ranked as part of Similarweb’s annual Digital 100 report on the fastest growing digital businesses.

Japan Rail Pass captured the #1 spot for Travel and Tourism in Similarweb’s annual Digital 100 ranking of the online businesses with the most impressive growth. The average monthly visits to jrailpass.com grew 239%, year-over-year, between 2022 and 2023. 

This finding is based on Similarweb’s Digital 100 report for the US, published today at similarweb.com/corp/digital-100/ with top 10 rankings for 10 industries: Apparel & Accessories, Automotive, Beauty & Cosmetics, Consumer Electronics, Food & Drinks, Home & Garden, News & Media, Personal Finance, Pet Care, and Travel & Tourism.

Each of the winners was already operating a substantial online business in 2022, but significantly increased its reach in 2023. For Travel & Tourism, the Top 10 in are: 

Some themes from the results:

Japan is a hot destination

Together with #5 ranked japanwondertravel.com, up 203%, Japan Rail Pass reflects the rising popularity of Japan as a destination for American travelers. Japan is the fastest-growing destination for Gen Z and Millennials, according to a study by American Express.

Seeking out discounts

US consumers want to travel, but they are actively seeking out the best values before booking. Thus, the rise of Zipair, which joins other airlines offering basic travel at a discount. Destinations include Tokyo, so its success might also reflect the Japan travel boom, but it also flies to destinations on the US West Coast as well as Honolulu, Seoul, Manilla, Bangkok, and Singapore. 

We also see the desire for discounts in the popularity of Spotlight Vegas and Klook.

Experiences attract

The drive for unique experiences brought traffic to One World Observatory, an attraction atop the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York, and American Queen Voyages (aqvoyages.com), which offers river cruises and “expeditions” in the US and Canada.

Learn more

These are just a few highlights from the full Digital 100 report for the US. Today Similarweb also published rankings for the United Kingdom, France (in French and English), Germany (in German and English), India, Japan, Brazil, and Australia.

Digital 100 Methodology

Building on Similarweb’s general methodology for creating a comprehensive model of the digital world, the Digital 100 project reveals the fastest growing web domains from pre-defined industry categories. Growth is measured as a percentage increase in average monthly traffic volume from 2022 to 2023. To qualify for inclusion, each domain had to meet a minimum average monthly traffic in both years. For the US, the minimum was 100,000 monthly visits in 2023 and 50,000 in 2022. A lower threshold was used for specific categories in other countries. Similarweb analysts then manually filtered the results to discover the most meaningful examples of digital business growth.

The Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com/blog/insights/.

Contact: For more information, please write to press@similarweb.com.

Report By: Inès Durand, Senior Insights Manager

Methodology

Disclaimer: All names, brands, trademarks, and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The data, reports, and other materials provided or made available by Similarweb consist of or include estimated metrics and digital insights generated by Similarweb using its proprietary algorithms, based on information collected by Similarweb from multiple sources using its advanced data methodologies. Similarweb shall not be responsible for the accuracy of such data, reports, and materials and shall have no liability for any decision by any third party based in whole or in part on such data, reports, and materials.

by Inès Durand

Inès provides market research insights in Retail, CPG, and Financial Services. Her work has appeared in Retail Today, CNBC, and AFP.