The Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) will work together to help restore two-way tourism after the number of visitors to both countries dropped after the earthquake tragedy in Japan.
Thailand has lost about 300,000 visitors from Japan since the earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast of the country on March 11.
Japan also experienced a decline of 23 percent from the Thai market during the first quarter. The slump is expected to continue until the end of this year.
Japan was one of the top five markets for Thai tourism last year with one million visitors, while 300,000 Thais travelled to Japan.
The TTAA held a “Japan Our Best Friend” familiarisation trip to Tokyo and Yamanishi prefecture last week.
Hiroshi Masuda, director of the JNTO Bangkok office, said JNTO would also work with [mainland] China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to restore confidence in Japan as a tourist destination.
