WORLD EXPO OSAKA 2025
How do you understand global hospitality and tourism? You go where the world gathers.
In October 2025, a small group of Hospitality & Tourism Management students from BYU–Hawaii traveled to Japan for an immersive learning experience around World Expo 2025 Osaka, a world expo held only once every five years and drawing millions of visitors from more than 150 nations. I joined as the trip’s videographer and storyteller, and networking ambassador, documenting our time across Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo as we explored how innovation, culture, and collaboration shape the future of global tourism and hospitality.
The trip was later featured in a BYU–Hawaii news article, “HTM Students Experience Global Hospitality in Action at World Expo in Japan,” highlighting how the experience became a “life‑changing” global classroom for everyone involved.
THE CHALLENGE
Capture the scale and feeling of a once‑in‑a‑generation global event—while also telling an intimate story about students, mentors, and leaders learning from each other in real time. The films needed to reassure donors and sponsors that their support created real growth, connection, and opportunity for the students who went.
That meant
- Showing what global hospitality looks like at the highest level, from pavilions and briefings to on-the-ground interactions.
- Translating a dense, fast‑paced experience into something human and cinematic, so it felt personal rather than like a generic recap.
- Making sure every frame helped answer an unspoken question: Was this experience worth the trust and resources invested in it?
A massive crowd at the 2025 Osaka World Expo.
The Experience: Inside a Global Showcase
We met with industry leaders, toured key facilities, and experienced international business culture firsthand—both inside the Expo and out in the cities, where tourism, hospitality, and everyday life brought those ideas to life.
Storytelling & creative direction
- Led the trip as primary videographer and documentary storyteller.
- Designed a highlight/cinematic mini‑doc with a clear emotional arc.
- Paired the Expo’s scale with intimate, human moments.
Production & field coverage
- Filmed across Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo with students, leaders, and alumni.
- Documented private briefings and site visits with Japanese officials and partners.
- Shot segments featuring BYU–Hawaii alumni at Japan Airlines and Marriott.
relationships & impact
- Acted as a connector and media liaison with pavilions, professionals, and dignitaries.
- Navigated formal meetings with government and industry leaders professionally.
- Framed the story to show donors clear transformation and return on their support.
The results: What Came Out of This Experience
This World Expo project transformed the trip into something tangible: a cinematic film that carries the emotional weight of the experience, a clearer story of impact for donors, and a set of relationships and insights that continue to open doors long after everyone flew home.
THE FILM
A cinematic mini documentary that puts you alongside HTM students at World Expo Osaka 2025, turning a once‑in‑a‑lifetime classroom experience into real‑world learning on a global stage.
WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU
For you, that means you’re not just getting someone who can make things look beautiful—you’re getting a partner who understands relationships, context, and outcomes, and can translate all of that into a piece that keeps working long after the trip is over.