Travel News

Japan Earthquake Aftershocks: Rebuilding Japanese Tourism

Locations in this article:  New Orleans, LA Tokyo, Japan

Moon Over Tokyo - Japanese Recovery Efforts & Earthquake's Effects On TourismIn the wake of the recent devastation in Japan, Peter sat down with USA Today‘s Ben Mutzabaugh to hash out the impact on short-term travel plans, and to discuss how the power of travel is so important to recovery efforts after major disasters.

Peter Greenberg: We now have the State Department advising Americans to avoid travel to Japan at least until April 1.

Ben Mutzabaugh: It’s obviously such a sad situation that you can’t even really put into words. The scenes are really just unreal.

PG: Right now, we have limited service in Tokyo in terms of trains and buses. In the northeastern part of the country nothing is going on because everything is shut down. No power, no tracks, highways are flooded. We’re talking a long, long time to rebuild here.

BM: Right. Of course anyone who has plans coming up to Japan in the near future should obviously, I hate to say it, reconsider that. It just may not be the best time to go. And you certainly don’t want to force it under these conditions for a number of reasons. Fortunately, most airlines are accommodating passengers who want to reschedule. Some airlines have started to reconsider some of their service to Japan, at least in the short-term future. There are going to be ongoing concerns. Both on a humanitarian basis, for positions on the ground, and of course we have the nuclear situation there. There are just a lot of unknowns. For travelers, if the people on the ground there face that much uncertainty, you are just really going into a situation that’s just really tough to get a handle on.

Learn more about the latest cuts in service to Japan with AA Forges Ahead With Japan Partnership As Other Airlines Cut Capacity.

PG: I agree. Of course, there’s a no-fly zone right now extended between 30 and 90 miles off the coast from the nuclear reactor. That should tell you something as well. Now, having said that I’m one of those people that would say maybe the time to go to Japan is when you can help out.

Miyajima Japan - Japan Travel UpdateBM: I think you raise a very interesting point there. If you’re going to see sites obviously, I don’t want to sound flip, it’s probably not the best time for that. But you know we’ve seen a trend over the past couple of years of people who go on vacations where they can volunteer and make a difference. If that’s the type of thing that appeals to you, or if you just feel a calling after seeing some of the things that we’ve seen here on the TV recently, then yeah, what better service could you offer to your fellow humans than to go help out in a situation like that?

PG: You raise an interesting point. This is not an opportunity for you to get on a plane and say let’s make this a road trip. No, look for opportunities in the future with an umbrella organization. Now one other note, I received an email the other day from three different hotel groups saying, “We just want to let you know, our hotels, with the exception of the northeastern part of the country, are open. They’re operating, they have available rooms.” So the infrastructure is there.

BM: You know, after New Orleans was back on its feet, it was one of the first places I wanted to go. There is only so much we can do, but filling up a hotel room for two nights, booking flights at the airport … it may feel like a drop in the bucket, but that’s one small brick in the wall for those people to get their economy going again and to return to normal. That’s going to be the same in Japan. Obviously, it looks like they’re going to be a long way off from normal. Travel it is one of the ways you want to go to contribute. It’s going to be a way for those people to kind of return to normal.

By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio.

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