INTERVIEW JAPAN
KYLIE CLARK In Person With...
Kylie Clark, Head of PR & Marketing for the Japan National Tourism Organization, explains how agents can spread the word that the country is back and ready for business
KYLIE CLARK Head of PR & Marketing for the Japan National Tourism Organization
Describe your job role and main responsibilities? I write press releases, handle media enquiries, arrange and host press trips, organise and host receptions and launches and create consumer, trade and media e-newsletters. I also manage the content for Japan National Tourism Organization’s website (
www.seejapan.
co.uk), Twitter (@experiencejapan) and Facebook (Visit Japan from the UK) pages. Plus I plan and implement Japan’s tourism marketing campaigns.
It’s obviously been a tough year for Japan – how do you sum up the impact that events have had on tourism? Japan’s tourism industry suffered massively following the March earthquake – even though all of the most popular tourist cities were unaffected by the disaster. In April, the height of the beautiful
cherry blossom season, international visitor numbers dropped by 63%. People around the world had seen the
very graphic footage of Japan being struck by a magnitude nine earthquake and a tsunami with waves of up to 40 metres. To many it looked like a Hollywood disaster movie and made them think that all of Japan was a no-go zone. But popular holiday destinations such as Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Mt. Fuji, Nagasaki and Okinawa received no infrastructure damage.
Which areas of Japan are still affected by these events? Tokyo (pictured), more than 230 km from the earthquake zone, was soon back to normal. Even Sendai, the city closest to the earthquake epicentre, is now back to normal. Sendai Airport, which was struck by the tsunami, has been back up and running for several months. The FCO now advises only against all
but essential travel to the coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures and travel within a 20km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
66 December 2011 •
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Power Plant. Those areas in north-east Japan most affected by the earthquake were well off the usual route British travellers take in Japan. There are over 200 UK tour operators offering holidays in Japan and of these only five or so offered trips to this part of Japan – and none had tours on the go when the quake struck.
As you look forward to 2012, what are your hopes for tourism out of the UK? We hope that by the April 2012 cherry blossom season we will see UK visitor numbers to Japan back into positive growth. This is the most popular time to visit Japan, so hopefully those who cancelled in 2011 will re-book for 2012. In Europe, the UK is leading the visitor
recovery: numbers were down 57% in April, but by October the gap had narrowed to 9% down on 2010 levels.
How was World Travel Market and what did tour operators tell you in terms of prospects for 2012? WTM was a great opportunity for us to talk to tour operators selling Japan. Most said the first few months after the earthquake had been very tough, but the general consensus was that consumers have now largely forgotten about it and – rightly – assume that Japan is now back to normal. Operators are optimistic that Japan sales will pick up and that their spring tours will operate as planned.
Are you happy with the level of support that's been forthcoming from the trade? Yes, absolutely. The early days after the earthquake proved a very emotional and difficult time for all our staff, however we were very moved by all the messages of support, concern and sympathy. We are very grateful that UK tour operators continued to sell Japan this year, despite knowing it would be tough, and that they were keen to involve us in their events to promote Japan. We joined Wexas for a consumer
event in September and did Japan training for the Thomas Cook reservation team in October.
"We are very grateful that UK operators continued to sell Japan this year despite knowing it would be tough"
What role can travel agents play in getting across the message that Japan is open for business? Most consumers know very little about Japan’s geography, so they aren’t aware that the places they would likely wish to visit on a Japan tour are located well outside the earthquake- affected area. It would obviously be extremely helpful and appreciated if travel agents could help us spread general awareness that Tokyo is now back to normal and that Japan's other popular tourist destinations are unaffected and ready to welcome visitors. Similarly, they could tell their clients
that major tour operators such as Kuoni, InsideJapan Tours, Jaltour, JTB, Cox & Kings, Bales Worldwide, Orion Expedition Cruises, Abercrombie & Kent and Archers Direct, to name but a few, are ready and waiting to take Japan bookings from agents!
What trade and other activities do you have planned for 2012? We'll have to wait and see what our 2012 budget will be, but we hope to be able to join tour operators’ consumer events and road shows and offer fam trips. Selling Long Haul readers can keep up
to date with all our agent activities by subscribing to our trade e-newsletter, by emailing
trade@jnto.co.uk. Our online Japan training programme is available at
www.seejapan.co.uk.
Finally, what’s your own idea of the perfect holiday? One of the things I love about Japan is that it is an incredibly diverse country. It’s hard to pick favourites, but my perfect holiday would include time in Tokyo, for its incredible food and brilliant modern art galleries, followed by the tropical, bohemian Okinawa islands, for seafood, pineapple wine, beautiful beaches and diving.
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