JTB Hawaii extends tours suspension
In a blow to Hawaii’s tourism recovery, Japan based travel company JTB extended its cancellations for Hawaii tours to at least March 2021.
It cites still surging Covid cases in both the US and Japan.
"Our Japan JTB headquarters has decided to extend our tour operation cancellation for package and group tours until 28 February," said Tsuneo Ishida, JTB Hawaii President wrote in a letter to travel partners.
"The coronavirus cases are still increasing in both Japan and the United States."
Japan is Hawaii’s second largest tourism market and is among the highest spending.
Prior to the pandemic Hawaii received about 1.5 million arrivals fom Japan.
Hawaii reopened to Japanese visitors in November but it has seen moderate numbers compared to normal levels as Japanese travelers still have to quarantine when they return home.
In November, there were just 524 visitors from Japan, according to data from the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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