Coaxing Japan Tourists

Above, the waterfront in Nagasaki.

Anyone following the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan knows that the Japanese tourism industry took a hard hit. Tourism dropped around 62% following the disaster from the same period a year ago. Travel related businesses are feeling the pinch throughout Japan.

The Japanese tourism industry is fighting back. I saw an interesting article in The Japan Times Online website.

This part of the article caught my attention in particular:

On an economic level, bringing tourists back into Japan is crucial for the survival of not only these specialist tour organizers, but also the whole domestic travel industry, from airlines to tour guides. The Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) and JNTO are injecting ¥500 million into projects aimed at coaxing travelers back to Japan in the short term. The JNTO measures include making sure that up-to-date information on the situation in the north is available through their website, supporting travel agents and tour organizers, and promoting and marketing Japan through traditional and social media.

While these efforts are good, one has to also mention that in order to coax back American tourists to Japan, something has to be done about the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen. That has been a sticking point for a lot of would-be U.S. travelers to Japan.

Currently, the dollar/yen exchange rate is hovering around 82 yen per dollar exchanged.

To read the full Japan Times article, go here.