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JATA Selects Nine Key Destinations for VWC, Looking for Schemes for
Large Sales End-May 2008
Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) has selected key
destinations for Visit World Campaign (VWC) in a move to increase
outbound travelers. Hiroshi Sawabe, leader of 20 Million Promotion
Office at JATA, speaks of an approach method toward the project: "We
would like to present some formulae enabling travel agencies to
follow so that they could appeal the campaign to the market in their
own style by offering appropriate products and get a due share of the
market growth. It is our job to devise such a scheme to help them
commercialize the destinations they choose in a way they like."
Pursuant to the basic strategies, JATA sets up working groups
named Destination-focus Committee, one group for one destination, to
make plans to spur demand. They will collaborate with carriers,
hotels, and ground operators in order to facilitate travel agencies'
merchandising. "Each member of the groups is expected to work
laboriously for making plans that will serve the objectives, taking
advantage of BtoC and BtoB relations," says Mr. Sawabe.
Where there are councils or promotional meetings already
installed, these bodies will be made function as working groups.
Meanwhile, the 20 Million Promotion Office will act as a coordinator
for agency's tour creation and sales promotion and as a facilitator
for consumer publicity and media strategy.
The key destinations picked up for promotion for spring/ summer
2008 are: Guam, the United States, Hawaii, Australia, Korea, Hong
Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and France.
Out of the destinations that have half a million to one million
Japanese visitor arrivals, JATA selected those nine countries and
areas after screening them from seven criteria; they are either the
destinations for which JATA, government tourist offices, and carriers
are working together for promotion initiated by bilateral talks
between Japan and the other party, or those where new tourist
attractions are being developed and offered for the purpose of
cultivating the Japanese market.
JATA sets a time frame of six months as one term for each
campaign and are going to have four terms (2 years) altogether. For
the following autumn/ winter season, it plans to choose key
destinations considering growth potentiality and news hook but with
no regard to the number of Japanese visitor arrivals.
Mr. Sawabe says, "If we could list as many as 10 or 15 key
destinations by autumn next year, they would definitely serve to
revitalize the market and bring about a sustained demand expansion.
Then we can hopefully reap the fruits of this project later next
year."
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