Fukushima region tries to revive its tourism following the terrible tsunami and nuclear catastrophe it experienced a year and a half ago. A promotional campaign recently kicked off, especially as international flights start to return again to Sendai.
BANGKOK – Is it possible to promote Fukushima for tourism? The city and the province gained a sad reputation as it was the most affected area by the 2011 tsunami and the nuclear catastrophe. However, promoting tourism is a sign of normality and also a way to look with confidence into the future. Fukushima was recently present at Thailand Travel Fair, organised by the Thai Association of Travel Agents to present itself its products to the public.
“Prior to the tsunami in 2010, we used to receive over 90,000 foreign travelers in a year, mostly coming from Korea, Taiwan or Mainland China. Following the catastrophe, total arrivals declined to less than 24,000. Last year, we however recorded again a slight growth with 2close to 30,000 foreign tourist arrivals”, says Jun Sasagawa, Senior staff from the Tourism Promotion Division of Fukushima Prefectural Government.
“The situation is mostly normalized and travellers have nothing to fear either from a health point of view or for travelling around the region. Only a very small part of the prefecture along the coast is still restricted to the public. This is where the nuclear plant used to be located. The restricted zone goes up to 2O km inside from the coastline ”, adds Mr. Sasagawa.
Doing promotion is probably the most delicate part of the Prefecture commitment to revive tourism. Domestically, Fukushima had always been a regular holiday spot for Japanese. Before 2010, total domestic arrivals used to hang around 700,000 a year. In 2011, this number declined dramatically to 130,000. Education tours have been revived now.
Fukushima wants first to promote itself to incentive travel groups. “I think that the market might be easier to target as we can offer good incentive products. There is for example interesting circuits and activities linked to agriculture but also fruit collecting. We also host many traditional festivals”, explains Jun Sasagawa. Among the festivals are the Sakura Flowers festival in the spring time and the spectacular horse race with warriors in tradition al costume set every July I the city of Soma City.
Fukushima is sure to make a slow return on the international tourism stage especially as new flights are coming to Sendai, less than an hour away by car from the Prefecture. They are also charter flights regularly taking passengers from Seoul Incheon and Taipei to Fukushima airport. With new budget to promote Fukushima Prefecture as well as incentive tours and campaigns for professionals in South Korea, China, Taiwan and Thailand, Fukushima is announcing its comeback…
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.
