Japan Trying To Salvage Summer Tourist Season

Above, the clock tower of the Wako Department Store in Ginza.

The Montreal Gazette is reporting that Japan's efforts to salvage its summer tourist season continues:

LOS ANGELES - Still recovering from March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, Japan is stepping up efforts to draw foreign travelers, even recruiting Lady Gaga to spread the word that much of Japan is safe for visitors.

As part of the effort to lure visitors before the summer travel season ends, the Japan National Tourism Organization recently posted online the radiation levels for downtown Tokyo that the tourism group says are lower than in tourist destinations such as New York, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Among the group’s efforts are online videos of race car drivers, ice skaters and other celebrities, including Lady Gaga, urging travelers to visit the country.

"I can’t say enough to people all over the world that the majority of Japan ... is very safe," the singer says in an online video shot before a benefit concert in Tokyo in June.

Besides concerns over radiation levels, the high cost of airfares is another factor in retarding tourism:

But Japan’s tourism industry faces several hurdles, including lingering fear among foreign travelers about potential radiation hazards and increasing fuel prices that keep airfares to Japan high.

"Some people are still kind of hesitant because of the radiation," said Yuki Koguchi, manager of Japan Deluxe Tour, a travel agency in Gardena, Calif. "Summer is popular for families to travel to Japan, but many are not booking because the parents are worried about taking kids there."

In addition, airfares to Japan have continued to climb with the increase in jet fuel prices over the last few months. For example, an economy seat on a round trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Japan Airlines costs nearly $1,300 per person, including nearly $600 in fuel surcharges.

After the disaster, the number of U.S. visitors to Japan dropped about 45 percent in March compared with the same month last year, according to preliminary statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organization. The tourism group estimates that American tourist numbers dropped 55 percent in April and 38 percent in May, compared with those months in 2010.

The article fails to mention that the U.S. dollar has lost ground against the Japanese yen in value over the past several months. Today, the rate of exchange between the dollar and yen is 1.00 USD = 77.9060 JPY.* This needs to be addressed if Japan's tourism industry hopes to draw more American tourists.

To read the full article, go here.

*Source: Universal Currency Converter.