Japan offers tourists free airfare

Japan's beleaguered tourism officials are pulling out all the stops to get foreigners to return to their accident prone country.

Japan's Tourism Authority announced this week it is giving away 10,000 free flights in a contest that requires winners to write positive things about their visit to a country that has seen its fair share of disasters in recent years - culminating in this past spring's earthquake/tsunami that caused over 20,000 deaths and billions in damages.

Since the earthquake/tsunami, Japan has experienced a 50 per cent drop in tourism and a 47 per cent decline in foreign tourist spending.

The airfare giveaway - you have to submit an application online to get one - will be launched in April 2012 -  with lots of hoopla and help from Hollywood types - and will cost the Japanese government $14.3 million U.S. Winners are responsible for their own lodging, food and ancillary expenses.

Japan needs our help so let's hope this free airfare promotion works - I know I'm going to apply!

Tokyo wants to host Olympic Games

Put this item under the heading "Being optimistic."
Tokyo intends to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics as a “big catalyst” for Japan’s recovery from the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami which hit the country last month, according to breakingtravelnews.com. Tokyo lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympics in 2009. Candidates for the 2020 Olympics are required to submit their bids to the IOC by September 1 this year. The host city will be chosen in Buenos Aires in September 2013.

Late breaking travel news

Here’s some travel tidbits I came across today while scanning the Internet:

LONDON: The final piece of turf has been laid on the field of play in the Olympic Stadium, marking completion of construction of the venue. Construction started on the Stadium just under three years ago in May 2008 and has been completed on time, under budget and with an exemplary safety record.

THAILAND: Hundreds of tourists are stranded on the popular Thai resort island of Koh Samui following a torrential downpour. Flights from the island have been suspended indefinitely, with a number of British tourists among those affected.

LONDON: EasyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has formed a partnership with VisitBritain, the UK’s national tourism agency, to jointly market Britain as a tourist destination over the next four years. The deal between the two parties is worth over about $25 million in cash and marketing in kind, and will help boost visitor numbers to the country and capitalize on the unique opportunities provided by the impending Royal Wedding, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and 2012 London Games.

WASHINGTON: Despite the lingering effects of the recession, the hotel business actually started coming back to life last year. According to a Hotels.com report released last week, the average cost of a hotel room rose 2 per cent in 2010, the first time it’s risen, year over year, since 2007.

TOKYO: Business travel to Japan has largely dried up in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor crisis there, and industry experts do not expect it to bounce back until the nuclear problems have been solved. Corporate-related travel to Japan has plummeted 80 per cent since the earthquake, estimates Andrew W. Menkes, chief executive of Partnership Travel Consulting, a Princeton, N.J.-based firm that helps companies manage their travel and entertainment expenses. Business travellers have canceled their trips, he said, “because of potential exposure to radiation, challenges with the transportation and ground infrastructure, and lack of hotel space.”