Quake hurts regional tourism

Travel agencies across Asia are bracing for a dip in Japanese tourists following last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.Officials from the Indian state of Orissa have bemoaned the disaster, and will be counting the cost of lost business as almost 70 per cent of bookings made by 90 Japanese tourists for the cities of Bhubaneswar and Puri have been cancelled.

"A 30-member team of tourists from Japan was scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar on March 27,” Tour and Travel Agents Association of Orissa President Benjamin Simon told The Times of India.“But the killer tsunami washed away their plan and they cancelled the trip. My colleagues in New Delhi also witnessed massive cancellation in bookings.”

The owner of Gandhar Hotel in Puri Saroj Rath expected nearly 40 tourists from Japan in March and April, but he told the newspaper all of the bookings were cancelled on Sunday.But Santana Hotel owner Srimanta Dash received good news, in that 20 Japanese tourists scheduled between March 22 and 26 did not cancel their bookings.Sources confirmed more than 3500 Japanese tourists visited Orissa alone in 2009.

In South Korea, the Ministry for Strategy and Finance have said the disaster will have a limited impact on the South Korean economy, despite concerns local manufacture will be severely impacted, as the industry heavily relies on Japanese parts.According to the Korea Joongang Daily, South Korea imported $38.1 billion in components from Japan last year, accounting for a quarter of total imports.

However, market observers believe the country’s automative industry won’t be affected, even if Japan’s production plants are forced to close in the short term.The tourism industry expected a dip, as about three million Japanese travellers visited South Korea last year, amounting for 34.4 per cent of the total foreign intake.

In Thailand, the President of the Thai-Japanese Tourism Business Association Anake Srishevachart said numbers from Japan would be down for up to six months.Mr Srishevachart told The Nation the expectation of a million Japanese tourists in 2011 may not occur.The newspaper also reported Thais would also cancel plans to visit Japan for fear of further quakes.

However, Thai Travel Agents Association boss Charoen Wangananond said Thais would continue to visit their favourite destinations of Tokyo and Osaka – well away from the heavily affected Sendai region.He expected about 300,000 Thais would visit Japan this year, up by 25 per cent from last year.

Source = etravelblackboardasia