TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Akira Kanai, chairman of Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), remarked in the opening speech at the JATA Management Forum on February 16, “We should make 2010 the year for us to go on the offensive.” After having been plagued by the economic crisis and the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009, “Travel industry is favored in 2010 by numerous exhilarating events,” he said, citing the Winter Olympics, Shanghai Expo, FIFA World Cup, and the 1300th anniversary of capital relocation to Nara on the one hand and increased landing slots at Narita Airport and internationalization at Haneda Airport on the other.

Since the administration of the Democratic Party of Japan has hammered out a policy to make tourism an integral part of the growth scenario, he clarified JATA’s stance with the remark, “We will work with Japan Tourism Agency as a private sector to promote outbound, inbound, and domestic travel in a bid to achieve the goals outlined in the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan.” He also made allusion to the subject of this year’s Management Forum, “Ride on the Waves! Change Yourselves and Get a Chance!” and said, “JATA must change itself by keeping pace with the times. JATA World Tourism Congress and Travel Fair, for instance, should provide a versatile business arena for BtoB transactions in order to help member agencies collect necessary information and team up with new partners.”

Acknowledging travel industry is still undergoing a tough time, he said, “We must find a glimmer of hope even at the very bottom of the economic cycle. It is important to summon our courage to make a sure step forward in such direction. I notice some JATA members have shown outstanding performance in the midst of the flagging economy.” It goes to show, he continued, that travel agencies still stand a fair chance of making a further evolution so far as they are successful in following the market trends correctly, then repositioning quality and price of their own products, renewing distribution system, and boosting customer satisfaction. He said, “It is crucial to change ourselves in order to meet those challenges.”

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.

AirAsia (AK) public relations office unveiled that the airline is currently making preparations toward the opening of its Japan route in 2010. During the JATA World Tourism Congress held by Japan Association Travel Agents in September, 2008, Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO, already mentioned the company’s intention to start its services to Japan from 2009. The airline is presently working on the acquisition of approval from the respective governments to start scheduled services between the two countries, said an Air Asia’s public relations officer.

The planned destinations remain unchanged since September 2008. AirAsia continues to plan to serve Sapporo in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Kita Kyushu, it indicated. The airline endeavors to operate “preferably from Haneda, if possible” in 2010, but all is “subject to negotiations” and the airline stressed that no agreement has been reached.

Besides its short-haul destinations including Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, AirAsia is currently operating flights also to the Gold Coast, Perth, London and Abu Dhabi. Last year, the airline was granted landing and take-off slots at Paris and has meanwhile started preparations for its flight operations. It has a growing interest in establishing itself in the China and India markets. In fact, the airline is rapidly expanding its China route serving Hangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and is equally expanding its India route adding destinations including Kolkata, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli (Tiruchi), Colombo and Dhaka. AirAsia’s ongoing aggressive network expansion in these areas may compel the airline to rethink its entire aircraft rotation when it inaugurates services to Japan, according to the airline’s public relations officer.

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.

South African Tourism gave a presentation on the Soccer World Cup on September 18 at JATA World Tourism Congress & Travel Fair 2009. The enthusiasm and confidence in the FIFA World Cup slated for the next year in South Africa were expressed by Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of South Africa joined by Toru Furusawa, Chairman, South Africa Working Group and General Manager, International Relationship, JTB Corp.

During the presentation, Bradley Brouwer, Country Manager Japan, South African Tourism, gave an introduction to Toru Furusawa, who made a briefing on the activities of the South Africa Working Group. The Group was launched in March 2007 and, already in November of the same year, Furusawa traveled to South Africa to inspect the planned site for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Commenting on his personal impression of Johannesburg’s security concerns, he stressed that as long as one sticks to the itinerary and listens carefully to the local tourist guide, basically there should be no problem. There is a certain district in downtown Johannesburg where a traveler should not walk about alone, but even for that matter, risks are extremely small, “considering such a vast area of South Africa,” he added, hoping for the concerns to be erased. A seminar on South Africa for the travel industry held previously in Tokyo and Osaka attracted as many as 100 participants at respective venues, which “just proves the country’s growing popularity and the current travel trend.” Capitalizing on the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, the tourism exchange with South Africa is expected to definitely increase and, in view of this, he urged each travel agency to continue its untiring efforts to boost travel to South Africa, concluded Furusawa of JTB.

Also, Schalkwyk, Tourism Minister, gave a comment on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 3.4 billion people are estimated to watch the games on TV, 3.5 million people are actually going to watch the games in South Africa, of which 450,000 will be visitors from overseas. The estimation remains the same as before in spite of the current global economic downturn. The city of Johannesburg now rushes to rebuild the infrastructure investing as much as 340 billion yen. Construction of new facilities at the airport, road maintenance and construction of the main stadium are all well underway, thus gradually but surely getting ready to welcome visitors from overseas to the World Cup in South Africa. In November, the stadium is scheduled to be completed and ready for an inspection in December by the FIFA Chairman. Everything is expected to be completed and fully ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa which is slated for the duration from June to July next year.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is not an event just for South Africa. As it is considered as the Festival of Africa on the whole, there has been a sufficient cooperative structure established among the African countries, indicated Schalkwyk. For accommodations, for example, the Republic of South Africa has enhanced a tie-up with the neighboring countries. It enables foreign visitors to enjoy watching the wildlife in the morning, watch the game in the afternoon and then, in the evening, return to a place of overnight in a neighboring country. It is indeed the “African way” of enjoying activities and quite recommendable, he said, stressing further that the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is absolutely a unique event as the “African World Cup”, not just an event to be held in South Africa.

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.