From Hokkaido to Okinawa, the domestic tourism industry has taken a battering in the wake of the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster, with foreign visitor numbers in March plunging 50 percent compared with the same period last year.
According to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey, at least 80,000 foreigners have called off visiting Japan and canceled hotel bookings and tours since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Some foreign airlines have also canceled flights to this country.
Many business operators in domestic tourist spots have blamed their plight on damage caused by rumors about the ongoing crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
"I've never experienced this before," said a 59-year-old employee at Suzuya, a souvenir shop in Asakusa, Tokyo, that opened during the early Showa era (1926-1989). She glanced down the normally packed Nakamise shopping street leading to Sensoji temple, but the street was almost deserted.
Suzuya's sales since the March 11 disaster have dropped more than 90 percent, and it is selling rice and vegetables to stay afloat.
The Noboribetsu hot spring resort in Hokkaido usually attracts about 200,000 overseas tourists per year, but more than 20,000 tourists--mainly from South Korea and Taiwan--canceled their reservations at hotels and inns in the wake of the disaster.
"The whole nation is being affected by rumors exaggerating the danger of visiting because of the nuclear plant accident," an official of the Noboribetsu Tourist Association said.
Okinawa Prefecture is nowhere near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, but it saw more than 10,000 cancelations by overseas tourists in the weeks up until April 8.
In Tokyo, the number of non-Japanese taking Hato bus tours to sightseeing spots in the capital and surrounding areas has decreased to an average five people per day, according to Hato Bus Co.
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route route through the Northern Japan Alps linking Toyama and Nagano prefectures was fully opened for the first time in 4-1/2 months Saturday, but has failed to attract its usual numbers.
One of the route's highlights is the Yuki no Otani (Great Snow Valley). Standing 2,390 meters above sea level and boasting 17-meter-high walls of snow, the area attracted 4,000 foreign tourists on its first day in 2010; this year the number was only 60.
Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, is not designated as an evacuation zone but tourist numbers to the famous Tsurugajo castle, including non-Japanese, fell by 70 percent in the first half of April compared with the same period last year.
The city had just changed the tiles on the castle's roof to a red kind used at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867). "We've been looking forward to this moment, so it's a terrible shame [there aren't more visitors to appreciate the new roof]," said an official of the Aizu-Wakamatsu City Tourism Bureau.
The Matsushima islets in Miyagi Prefecture are designated one of the three most beautiful sights in Japan and usually attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from overseas each year.
The Hotel Matsushima Taikanso boasts a sweeping view over Matsushima Bay and was not hit by the disaster, but all its reservations from Taiwan and Hong Kong have been canceled up until autumn.
An aquarium will open and tourist cruises operating around the area should resume about Golden Week in May.
"I want [tourists] to come and see that we're fine," said Keiji Fukui of the Matsushima Tourist Association.
Accordingly, tourist spots across the nation are doing their best to attract tourists.
In Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, the mayor has issued a declaration saying food and water in the town were safe, with an English version carried on the city's Web site.
In Beppu, Oita Prefecture, where about 10,000 foreign tourists have canceled hotel reservations, the city held an open forum. It invited foreigners working in the city to help think of ways to bring visitors back to the city Saturday, with one city official saying it wants to promote Beppu's safety on Facebook.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, tourist agencies in South Korea and Taiwan have even started inspecting tourist spots far from the disaster-stricken areas.
A public radio broadcaster in Hong Kong on Saturday reported that about 70 people had left its shores for Okinawa and Hokkaido for the first time since March 11.
"I want to show my support for the Japanese people by traveling to Japan," one of the tourists was quoted as saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment