Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) recently released a report which denounces the ineffectiveness of the country’s tourism policy. Despite the report, little is expected to change.
TOKYO – Losing face does not seem to be for once of any concern to Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Local newspapers last month highlighted that the Administrative Evaluation Bureau, a service set by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, slammed the promotional and marketing efforts done by both central and regional governments to lure foreign travellers into the country over the last decade. The Bureau estimates that most of these efforts have been “wasteful and ineffective”.
The Bureau analysed 244 projects funded by the Japan Tourism Agency for the fiscal years 2010 to 2012. According to the agency, 31 of these projects, which received ¥ 90 million (close to one million dollar), did not materialize with a single tourist in return. A mega fam-trip to bring Chinese journalists to Japan turned even into a total flop as nothing was produced afterwards. The government is also hosting foreign travel agencies to enjoy the country to sell more packages abroad. The return on investment could not be assessed according to the Ministry.
Talking to the Japan Times, JTA official Hayato Takaishi said the agency has no system to determine whether projects work in the long term. The fact that marketing campaigns are generally given on a one-year contract to a private company does not help to set up a long-term target. “But once the fiscal year ends, the firms don’t have to report whether any visitors were attracted”, he said to the newspaper. The agency also doubts about the efficiency of participating in large groups to overseas travel trade shows and about various advertising campaigns.
The bureau recommended the Tourism Agency to come up with better measures ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. But will it materialize? The way the Japanese administration works is probably the biggest handicap to an efficient marketing campaign. All Japan administrative bodies are heavily centralized with decisions only taken at the highest level. It means that initiatives taken at a regional level- or country level for the Japan Tourism Bureau- have little chance to materialize. And if they do, it might take far more times than planned. It also highlights why Japan tourism agencies can only launch limited tailor-made campaigns dedicated to a specific market.
Decentralising decisions, a younger team at management level, more creativity to sell the image of Japan would probably bring the expected changes. However when? To comfort the MIC, Japan is not the only one facing that problem in Asia!
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
