TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Las Vegas hosted a sales seminar in Tokyo. The seminar, joined by hoteliers of Las Vegas, entertainment enterprises, and six tour operators, made a presentation of the latest products and services. Rafael Villanueva, Director for International Sales, said at the seminar that Las Vegas of today is not same as Las Vegas of five years ago, nor three year ago, nor even last year, as it does not stand still but keeps changing all the time. The Authority considers it of utmost importance to keep the travel agencies’ counter staff – the front line of the sales – informed of what is going on in and around Las Vegas; therefore, it is determined to go anywhere in Japan to update them whenever necessary as part of its educational programs.

To cite a case of hotel situation as an instance of the latest changes, Planet Hollywood is now affiliated with Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. and its annex Planet Hollywood Towers, all rooms being suites with kitchen, started operation in the autumn 2009. Furthermore, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, a sister hotel of Wynn Las Vegas, opened in December 2008 and, after only a year of business, earned AAA (American Automobile Association)’s Five Diamond Award. Aggregate number of guest rooms in Las Vegas was 148,941 at the end of 2009 with occupancy ratio at 81.5 percent.

There are some changes seen in the travel mode of Grand Canyon excursions. Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters who operates tours to Grand Canyon by using buses, helicopters, and small aircrafts or a combination thereof, has increased bus tours to the South Rim over the past few years, which prompted Japanese tourists to take more helicopter tours. Maverick Aviation Group, who joined this sales mission for the first time in eight years, is another helicopter operator offering more than 20 courses including excursions to Grand Canyon, based at the terminals of good location. The Group is reported to be considering payment of agency commission in a move to cut deep into Japanese market.

The seminar also highlighted the entertainment and shopping aspects of Las Vegas. Cirque du Soleil is now performing seven shows at different hotel theaters such as the one at Treasure Island Hotel; the shows include the fabulous party piece “Mystère” and the “Love” composed of Beatles’ numbers and performances. As for the shopping spots, RCS Advertising, the sole agent of Las Vegas Premium Outlets for Japan, hands out a free coupon booklet to travel agencies, but it also distributes a Platinum VIP Passport exchange coupon for a deeper discount and wider coverage of popular shops, expecting the coupon would add more value to such upmarket tours that travel on business class or stay at prestigious hotels.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Destination Quebec hosted a reception for the Japanese media on March 3 jointly with Air Canada (AC). The venue was the “Theatre Tokyo” of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL which has its base in Montreal, Quebec. The “ZED,” a program exclusively prepared for the Japanese market, was introduced to the invited guests. Seichi Iwabuchi, Regional Director at Destination Quebec, opened the reception, citing that he would like every guest to experience the flavor of Quebec first-hand through the performance by CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, followed by local cuisine from Quebec, adding that the media event will further help improve the recognition of Quebec in the Japanese travel market.

In a drive to enhance its market recognition, Destination Quebec has meanwhile established the “Quebec Media Club,” in fact, members of which were invited to the reception. Commenting on a significance of the PR activities, Iwabuchi said that he is hopeful that the PR activities will achieve tangible results in motivating prospective travelers to make inquiries with travel agencies and thus encouraging them to start to produce the package tours.

Kiyo Weiss, Sales and Marketing Manager Japan, Air Canada, told the guests, while giving a toast, that the airline will start a new service to Calgary from March 28 in addition to the current non-stop flights to Vancouver and Toronto, adding that the new service to Calgary will further enhance its accessibility to Canada. She also told the travel agencies that the number of tourists to Quebec peaks undoubtedly in its autumn season. The new thrice-weekly service to Quebec, which is scheduled to be operated from March 28 through to October 29, should accommodate the peak traffic during the autumn season, she said, expecting that it will help encourage the travel agencies to produce package tours featuring the summer and the autumn season in Quebec.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.