TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Seiji Maehara, Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, reviewed the budgetary framework of Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) for fiscal 2010 and made adjustment to 25.1 billion yen (initial request: 25.6 billion yen), 4.02 times the current allocation. The alteration of the request was decided because the Growth Strategy Meeting had approved earlier of the promotional activities for foreign visitor solicitation as an urgent matter in the scope of total tourism policy. Since specific programs are already proposed needing prompt implementation, the Finance Minister gave consent to the modification as an exceptional case.

Changes have been made on two points; one is stepped-up efforts to solicit more foreign travelers to Japan, and the other is a subsidy to tourism-based regional infrastructure improvement.

With regard to the first point, 7.1 billion yen is going to be appropriated as an extra fund for the starting year of the first-phase project toward the ultimate goal of 30 million foreign visitors. The project entails the following three programs as part of the intensive schemes: (1) an addition of 4,190 million yen for comprehensive promotion covering all of the 15 major overseas markets by transmitting commercials via international satellite broadcasting of CNN International and BBC World, (2) an addition of 910 million yen for in-depth market research and analysis for effective promotions, and (3) an addition of 460 million yen for prompting use of location sites in Japan for movie shoot and TV show organized by foreign production companies.

Meanwhile, in relation with the second point – infrastructure improvement – the subsidies for removal of utility poles to underground wires and maintenance of parking lots were decided to be absorbed in the general public works budget; therefore, request for the additional fund was abandoned and 7,620 million yen was curtailed.

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.

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) launched the first meeting of “Growth Strategy Council” on October 26. After confirming its basic direction, it immediately entered into discussion about the aviation issue. The objective of the Growth Strategy Council is to study growth strategy for the respective industries. Areas include “competitiveness of port and harbor,” “tourism-oriented country,” “open sky and enhancement of aviation administrative competitiveness” and “further globalization of construction and transport industries.” In starting the first meeting of the growth strategy council, Seiji Maehara, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism told the council members that the industrial sectors under jurisdiction of MLIT have still many fields with growing capacity. Without expanding these industrial sectors, Japan could never firmly establish its foundation from which to grow.” The Council plans to proceed to thoroughly study the respective industrial sectors by January next year and further promote in-depth discussion on the results reached by April. By compiling the final report in June next year, the Growth Strategy Council plans to reflect the findings on the FY2011 budgetary request.

Presentations were given at the first meeting by the Council Chairman Yasuchika Hasegawa, President, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Vice Chairman Takashi Mitachi, Co-Chairman Japan, The Boston Consulting Group in Japan. With his 14 years’ working with Japan Airline (JL), Mitachi first sorted out issues related to the aviation industry. He pointed out that it is important as a basic stance to study from the customers’ point of view “user-friendliness of overall transportation network including railways,” “price-value relationship,” and “safety.” Also, he suggested that it is imperative to focus not only on the aviation industry but also on the development of the whole Japanese industry, adding that attention must be paid to a system for cost-effective public impact in terms of airport expansion and operations and maintenance. Additionally, he urged the Council to look at the future changes including the possibility of liberalization of the aviation industry within East Asia.

On top of that, Mitachi illustrated as the burning issues “low cost carrier (LCC)” and “expansion of the metropolitan airports and build-up of a hub airport both for domestic and international flights.” In terms of LCC, he said that it is necessary to study a selection of airports which can accept international low cost carriers and the supports required in order to attract LCC and at the same time to establish domestic low cost carriers. In regards to the Tokyo metropolitan airports, he indicated that the expansion of arrival and departure slots at Haneda Airport must be fully utilized and also maintained that both Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport should have a hub function as domestic and international airports. He suggested an idea, for instance, that Haneda Airport basically to serve Europe and North America and major Asian routes where strong business travel demand exists. With the distance to Haneda Airport from downtown shorter than Narita, the destinations served from Haneda should be given a geographical price differential compared to the destinations served from Narita International Airport.

Many members of the Growth Strategy Council gave their approval to the suggestions brought up during the presentation. Ushio Chujo, M.A. (Keio Univ.), MCIT Faculty of Business & Commerce, Keio University told the Council that politicians had shown a resistance just as much as bureaucrats, commenting on why Haneda Airport has not been turned into a hub airport. He stressed that the change of government gives a great chance for changes. Chairman Hasegawa reasoned during his presentation titled “Japan’s growth strategy” that Japan, standing at a critical juncture of the prosperity and the decline, should address the quality and quantity growth with a fine balance. In efforts to hammer out a solution, he concluded, Japan must eliminate the so-called vertically divided administration, make effective use of the best practices, draw up road maps and fulfill the accountability for the people.

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.