(HARD) HATS OFF: The Ottawa Convention Centre’s grand-opening party on April 13 included a musical tribute to the construction company PCL,

which built the facility. The following day, PCL had its North American man- agers’ meeting at the center. For the full story, see p. 25.

PLENARY T

After the Earthquake: A Conversation With Japan’s Tourism Chief

ADATOSHI MAMIYA, PRESIDENT OF THE JAPAN National Tourism Organization (JNTO), was on the Shinkansen bullet train on Friday afternoon,

March 11, traveling from Tokyo to Nagoya, when the To¯hoku earthquake struck off the coast of Sendai, about 190 miles to the northeast. The train was still in Tokyo, crossing a bridge over the Tama River, and came to a halt halfway across. No one was hurt, but “as a safety precaution, the train did not resume service until three hours later,” Mamiya said. “It took eight hours to finally arrive at my destination, which normally takes less than two hours.” Being stuck on a bridge for three hours right after an earthquake was harrowing, but Mamiya said he was impressed with the Shinkansen’s ability to stop quickly without derailing. When he finally got to Nagoya, it was his job to help provide an equally smooth response from Ja- pan’s meetings and hospitality industry. Recently, Mamiya talked to Convene about how much of his country’s meet- ings infrastructure was damaged, how things look right now — and how the global meetings industry can help.

When did you realize how serious the earthquake and resulting tsunami were? I watched the news on television after getting off from the train.

What were JNTO’s immediate priorities? As president of JNTO, I knew that it was our top priority to ensure the safety of foreign visitors traveling within Japan at that time, and also to support their tour until they departed from Japan by providing accurate travel

SOLID GROUND: “Many regions,” JNTO President Tadatoshi Mamiya said, “are untouched and unaffected by the natural disaster of March 11.”

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News and notes for the meetings and conventions industry

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