Japan Tourism: Getting back on track

The nine-magnitude earthquake which ravaged Japan and sparked a tsunami over two months ago is continuing to impact tourism numbers, as lingering concerns over the radiation levels are making travellers reluctant to visit.

The Japan Tourism Board advised that arrival numbers from Malaysia in March 2010 compared to the same month this year represented a 54.7 percent drop.? German visitors have dropped a massive 64 percent for the same period.Despite the statement from the World Health Organisation and the World Tourism Organisation saying that the current radiation levels pose no travel risk to Japan there is still fear among potential travellers.

?“Japans tourism revival requires a three party commit from suppliers, operators and government authorities, if we want to kickstart the tourism machinery again we must have hefty discounts and positive support,” said Koh Yock Heng of Apple Vacations and Conventions, the leading outbound tour operator in Malaysia.

Mr Koh explains that from the originally booked 18 groups, they will be taking only three and even at a loss it is important to travel to Japan and send a strong message that Apple is continuing business to the country.

Japan Travel Bureau Division manager Shen Nordin advised that some of the problems they were facing are due to the travel advisory warning from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry which needs to be updated to reflect the real situation.“We hope JNTO will conduct a public relations exercise, people do not understand what is really happening,” Mr Nordin said.

JNTO director Shimizu Yasumasa responded by saying they will be resuming promotional activities this month and that they are re-allocating their budget to concentrate on promoting Japan.

“The first stage of our recovery plan is providing updates to industry partners and the public, the second stage is to resume activities and the third is to hold familiarisation trips for Media and industry partners,” Mr Yasumasa said.

Source = etravelblackboardasia