Japanese travel agents launch post-tsunami campaigns
The director of Japan Association of Travel Agents believes the recovery of outbound travel from Japan is the first step towards recovery of the inbound market.
Hiroshi Sawabe said outbound travel by Japanese would decline by between three and four percent in 2011 but confidence was returning to the outbound market following a huge slowdown following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the north-east of the country.
The numbers of those who died or are still missing following the disaster has reached 23,500. The total cost of the earthquake and its aftermath to the Japanese economy has been estimated at US$300 billion.
Sawabe said the speed of the recovery in outbound travel has been faster than anticipated.
Initially overseas travel by Japanese dropped sharply but since the start of the Golden Week holidays in late April, the rate of decline had slowed and was 10-12 per cent down compared with the same period in 2010.
Sawabe said the Japanese travel industry must deal with the problem by showing leadership and working with industry partners to get tourism back on track.
A “Cheer Up Japan, Smile Through Travel†campaign has been launched to get people traveling and, in turn, help the economic recovery in the country.
Poster displays at mainline rail stations are encouraging Japanese to travel and those going overseas are being encouraged to take part in a postcard distribution campaign.
Japanese travellers hand the postcards – which bear the message “Hope to See You Again in Japan†– to their overseas friends in the hope of stimulating inbound travel to Japan.
Ian Jarrett
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