Connect with us

Technology

Agoda Reveals Growing Travel Interest Ahead of Japan’s Summer 2026 Fireworks Festivals

Published

on

― Searches for Nagaoka during the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks up 50x, as interest in “fireworks travel” expands nationwide ―

SINGAPORE, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Agoda Company Pte. Ltd. (Headquarters: Singapore; CEO: Omri Morgenshtern), which operates the digital travel platform Agoda, revealed growing travel interest during Japan’s fireworks season among domestic and international travelers, based on accommodation search data related to major fireworks festivals taking place across Japan in summer 2026.

According to Agoda’s latest data, accommodation searches saw an increase as fireworks festival dates approached. In particular, Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture, the host location of the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks, recorded a 50x increase compared to searches conducted before the event period, marking it the highest growth among the fireworks festival destinations coming up this summer.

Accommodation searches also grew in other regional destinations hosting fireworks festivals across Japan, including the Lake Biwa Great Fireworks Festival, Numazu Summer Festival and Kano River Fireworks Festival, Kanmon Straits Fireworks Festival, and Matsue Suigosai Fireworks Festival.

Agoda’s findings show that interest is growing among domestic and international travelers to destinations where they can enjoy “fireworks travel” experiences that combine fireworks viewing with local sightseeing, dining, and overnight stays.

The data compares accommodation searches made between 90 and 60 days before each fireworks festival date with accommodation searches for check-ins on the day before and the day of each event.

Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Leads with a 50x Increase in Searches

Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture | Searches up 50x

Known as one of Japan’s three great fireworks festivals, the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks continues to attract domestic and international travelers with its breathtaking scale. Highlights include the “Shosanjakudama,” a massive firework with a diameter of approximately 650 meters, and the “Phoenix Fireworks for Recovery,” which stretch roughly two kilometers across the banks of the Shinano River. In addition to the fireworks, travelers can enjoy Echigo’s rich natural scenery, local sake, and regional cuisine, making Nagaoka a highly popular destination for overnight trips combined with fireworks viewing.

Interest in “Fireworks Travel” Destinations Expands Across Japan

Lake Biwa Great Fireworks Festival, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture | Searches up 7x

Held over Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, this festival features approximately 10,000 fireworks and attracts many travelers with its magical reflections on the water and scenic lakeside setting. Its convenient access from Kyoto also makes it a popular choice for travelers looking to combine the event with sightseeing in the surrounding area.

Numazu Summer Festival and Kano River Fireworks Festival, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture | Searches up nearly 3.5x

Held along the Kano River, which runs through the heart of Numazu City, this fireworks festival offers visitors an up-close and powerful viewing experience, with launch sites located near spectator areas. Numazu is also known for its fresh seafood and serves as a popular base for exploring the Izu area.

Kanmon Straits Fireworks Festival, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture and Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture | Searches up nearly 3.5x

The Kanmon Straits Fireworks Festival is a rare fireworks event jointly hosted by two cities, with approximately 15,000 fireworks launched from both sides of the Kanmon Straits. Its dynamic location spanning Kyushu and Honshu, combined with local cuisine and charming port-town scenery, makes it an attractive travel destination.

Matsue Suigosai Fireworks Festival, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture | Searches up more than 3x

Known as one of western Japan’s leading fireworks festivals, the Matsue Suigosai Fireworks Festival is celebrated for its water-based fireworks over Lake Shinji and the enchanting reflections that appear on the lake’s surface. With nearby attractions such as Matsue Castle and Tamatsukuri Onsen, the area continues to be popular as an overnight travel destination.

These results suggest that as Japan’s fireworks festivals season approaches, these regional destinations are gaining attention as travelers seek opportunities to experience “fireworks travel” and enjoying local sightseeing, dining, and accommodations.

Tadashi Ikai, Senior Country Director, Agoda International Japan, shared, “Japan’s fireworks festivals are one of the country’s signature summer experiences for both domestic and international travelers. Agoda’s latest search data shows that interest is growing in destinations that offer a ‘fireworks travel’ experience that combines the events with local scenery, cuisine, and sightseeing.

The increase in searches for regional cities such as Nagaoka, Matsue, and Numazu also indicates growing interest for travel experiences that allow visitors to discover the unique appeal of local destinations. With great deals on accommodation, flights, and activities, Agoda will continue to support travelers in enjoying more fulfilling summer journeys.”

Agoda offers travelers access to a wide range of travel products, including hotels, private homes, flights, and activities. By booking activities in advance through Agoda, travelers can better plan their itineraries and enjoy a smoother, more fulfilling travel experience in their chosen destinations.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/agoda-reveals-growing-travel-interest-ahead-of-japans-summer-2026-fireworks-festivals-302822621.html

SOURCE Agoda

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

BinBase Expands 2026 BIN Dataset with Instant Payout Intelligence for iGaming, Gambling, and Cross-Border Transfers

Published

on

By

BinBase updates its 2026 dataset with specialized Fast Funds, Visa Direct, and Mastercard MoneySend indicators to help iGaming operators and payout platforms execute seamless, instant card disbursements.

MIAMI, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — BinBase, a global provider of payment routing intelligence and card issuing data, has introduced specialized instant payout indicators as part of its upgraded 2026 BIN Database. Tailored for iGaming operators, online gambling platforms, crypto-to-fiat ramps, and payout aggregators, the updated dataset helps platform engineers streamline real-time card disbursements and Push-to-Card (P2C) transactions.

In high-velocity sectors such as online betting and gaming, instantaneous player payouts are a primary driver of customer retention. However, executing Push-to-Card transactions through protocols like Visa Direct and Mastercard MoneySend requires knowing whether the receiving card issuer supports Fast Funds for specific merchant category codes (MCCs). Attempting instant payouts on non-eligible cards leads to declined transactions, elevated processing fees, and poor user experiences.

The 2026 BinBase release solves this operational bottleneck by delivering dedicated attributes for real-time fund disbursements:

Fast Funds Eligibility: Granular indicators identifying domestic and cross-border Fast Funds support across global Visa and Mastercard ranges.Online Gambling Fast Funds (OG FF): Dedicated flags specifically identifying card ranges authorized to receive real-time gambling and betting payouts.Mastercard MoneySend & Visa Direct Indicators: Precise protocol compatibility markers (MS Ind & MT Ind) ensuring push transactions are routed only to eligible recipient cards.Direct Debit & Pull-Funds Support: Indicators for recurring collections and account-funding transactions.

“Player payouts in iGaming cannot wait for standard 2-to-3-day ACH settlements,” said a spokesperson for Damiko Inc. “By embedding our Fast Funds and Gambling FF flags into their payment engines, operators can instantly validate recipient cards before initiating a transfer, guaranteeing high success rates and instant liquidity for their users.”

Fintech engineers and payout architects can examine the full 29-field database schema and access a free 2026 sample dataset on GitHub.

To explore commercial licensing, bulk database downloads, or custom data feeds, visit BinBase at https://binbase.com.

About Damiko Inc

Damiko Inc is a US-based fintech data provider specializing in card issuer analytics, payment routing data, and global BIN database solutions. Operating through its flagship product, BinBase.com, the company supplies high-precision transaction intelligence to help merchants and payment facilitators worldwide optimize approval rates and mitigate processing fees.

Media Contact
Fedor Lavrikoff, BinBase, 1 7866133334, sales@binbase.com, www.binbase.com 

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/binbase-expands-2026-bin-dataset-with-instant-payout-intelligence-for-igaming-gambling-and-cross-border-transfers-302829344.html

SOURCE BinBase

Continue Reading

Technology

Walnut Coding’s Young Coders Serve as ‘Instructors’ at Huawei Cloud Developer Training Camp

Published

on

By

Ages 8 and 15, students showcase AI-era project-building skills from concept to working application

BEIJING, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Walnut Coding (the “Company”), a leading online platform for youth coding education, said two of its students – ages 8 and 15 – have joined the “instructor” lineup at Huawei Cloud Developer Training Camp, making them among the youngest “instructors” in the program’s history. The Company cites the pair as a prime example of how young learners can combine coding fundamentals with AI tools to turn ideas into working applications.

The two students, Bolin Du, 8, and Peiqi Gao, 15, built working applications using Huawei Cloud CodeArts, an AI coding assistant, then presented the projects to the training camp themselves – walking the audience through their design choices, technical builds, and debugging process.

The move lands at a moment when AI coding tools are forcing a rethink across the education sector. Tools that can generate functioning code from a plain-language prompt have undercut the traditional argument for teaching children to program – that they need the skill to build things themselves. Walnut Coding’s answer is that the more valuable skill now is judgment – knowing what problem to solve, breaking it into parts, and determining whether an AI’s output actually works.

Gao built a travel-planning application that generates routes, itineraries, and recommendations based on user input, handling the project end to end, from requirements and design through coding and debugging. Du, the younger of the two, built an interactive calendar application, using HTML for page structure, CSS for visual design, and JavaScript for interactive features. Both students then took on an instructor’s role at the camp, presenting their project goals and technical implementation to the audience – a step Walnut Coding says separated the work from a typical classroom assignment.

These were not classroom exercises but working projects, built and presented inside a professional developer-training environment. The experience demanded more from both students than simply producing something functional – they needed to articulate their reasoning, defend technical choices, and refine the final result under scrutiny. Their participation signals a broader shift underway in what youth coding education can deliver.

AI is making code generation easier, but it is also redrawing which skills actually matter. A student who relies only on one-click generation may get a rough prototype quickly, but still struggle to spot logical flaws, judge whether the output is reliable, or turn an abstract idea into a product that actually works. Students with programming foundations, by contrast, are better positioned to define requirements, evaluate what the AI produces, correct its errors, and treat the technology as a tool rather than a shortcut to lean on.

“AI can help children generate code faster, but it cannot decide for them what problem they should solve, nor can it make the final judgment about whether the result is truly effective,” said Pengxuan Zeng, founder and CEO of Walnut Coding. “What these two students demonstrated is not just coding technique, but the ability to define needs, break down tasks, verify outcomes, and turn an idea into a working product. That is why we believe young people still need to learn programming in the AI era.”

Walnut Coding structures its courses around that thesis, pairing student-led project work with teaching-assistant guidance and AI-assisted support. According to the Company, this data is continuously fed back into its systems to refine the personalization of AI-assisted feedback — a closed-loop process linking teaching, practice, feedback, and curriculum development.

The Company frames the payoffs less around producing professional software engineers than around a broader form of literacy. As AI continues to reshape how tasks get done, the ability to understand the technology, structure problems clearly and collaborate effectively with intelligent tools may prove one of the most durable skills a young learner can develop.

Walnut Coding says it plans to keep expanding opportunities for students to build practical projects, partner with industry technology platforms such as Huawei Cloud, and develop the core capabilities needed to build with technology in the AI era.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walnut-codings-young-coders-serve-as-instructors-at-huawei-cloud-developer-training-camp-302833884.html

SOURCE Walnut Coding

Continue Reading

Technology

MOREH Showcases High-Performance LLM Inference on AMD GPUs at AMD Advancing AI 2026

Published

on

By

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Moreh, an AI infrastructure software company, led by CEO Gangwon Jo, participated in AMD Advancing AI 2026, AMD’s flagship annual AI event held in San Francisco on July 22–23 (local time), where it demonstrated its distributed inference solution, the MoAI Inference Framework, running on AMD GPUs.

At the event, Moreh presented a live demonstration of the GLM-5.1 large language model (LLM) powered by the MoAI Inference Framework on a system equipped with 32 AMD Instinct™ MI300X GPUs across four nodes. Visitors experienced the chatbot firsthand, evaluating its response speed and service quality while observing performance across a range of real-world use cases.

Unlike conventional demonstrations that simply run an AI model, Moreh’s showcase displayed key inference service metrics in real time, including GPU utilization, Tokens Per Second (TPS), Time To First Token (TTFT), and Time Per Output Token (TPOT). This enabled attendees to directly verify both inference performance and GPU resource efficiency in a production-like service environment.

Global AI industry leaders and enterprise customers attending the event expressed strong interest in the system’s fast response times and stable performance. In particular, the live deployment of the computationally demanding GLM-5.1 model on AMD GPUs at production-grade service levels received positive feedback from visitors.

Moreh’s MoAI Inference Framework is widely recognized as the world’s first commercially deployed distributed inference solution built for the AMD ecosystem. Its distributed inference and heterogeneous computing technologies are designed to dramatically reduce AI service costs, enabling broader adoption of AI worldwide. The technology addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges-the rapidly rising infrastructure and service costs caused by increasingly larger AI models-by delivering a more efficient inference infrastructure.

Moreh CEO Gangwon Jo stated, “This event provided an opportunity for global customers to verify firsthand that top-tier inference performance can be achieved on AMD GPU environments,” and added “We will continue advancing our AI infrastructure software so enterprises can operate AI services as efficiently as possible, regardless of the underlying GPU platform.”

Moreh develops its own AI infrastructure engine and has expanded its end-to-end AI capabilities through its foundation LLM subsidiary, Motif Technologies, covering both AI infrastructure and foundation models. The company is also strengthening its presence in the global AI market through strategic partnerships with leading technology companies, including AMD and Tenstorrent.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moreh-showcases-high-performance-llm-inference-on-amd-gpus-at-amd-advancing-ai-2026-302833887.html

SOURCE Moreh

Continue Reading

Trending