The devastating 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan was a tragic event most felt in that stricken country but it also had travel implications that are across the board in the entire pacific market.
Travel is way down in Japan, of course, but the burgeoning markets of China, Taiwan, and South Korea are most exposed to a drop in traffic, observers say. At least a fifth of their air travel revenue comes from business with the country, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The travel and hospitality industry in the Pacific, including Hawaii, is the latest victim of the ongoing disaster in Japan, reported CNN
"What’s happened in Japan is so high profile that it will affect the Asian business going through Japan, too," Danny Ojiri, vp of sales and marketing for Asia Pacific for Outrigger Enterprises, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Hawaii’s Governor Neil Abercrombie said that the loss from the expected downfall in tourism from Japan will be tens of millions of dollars. Japanese tourists are the third largest group of arrivals to Hawaii, just after the US West Coast and US East Coast.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts expects April bookings for Waikiki to drop by 25 to 30 percent, Keith Vieira, senior vice president and director of operations for the chain’s Hawaii and French Polynesia locations, told the Star-Advertiser.
"This market is our largest, so it has much more potential to hurt us," he said.
Guam, whose tourism relies in large part on visitors from Japan, also has been affected, according to Pacific Daily News.
Cruise line business will also see a decline.
Royal Caribbean and Oceania Cruises have canceled port calls in Japan, which has a spillover impact on other destinations.
Thailand is also a victim.
The Thai travel industry faces a “serious negative impact from the tsunami in Japan,” said the Thailand Business News. During the school break in March and April, many Japanese travel to Thailand. Japanese tourists number almost one million per year.
“We will see a negative impact on both outbound and inbound travel,” said Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai Japan Tourism Business Association (TJTBA). But it was too early to estimate the impact.
The Geneva-based IATA trade group said that because some Japanese refineries were damaged, prices for jet fuel could rise. The country produces 3 to 4 percent of global jet fuel supplies, part of that exported in Asia.
"The combination of crises and issues facing Japan is truly unprecedented," said the group’s leader Giovanni Bisignani.
Future travel investment may also be cut back.
Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of Asean, said the earthquake in Japan would affect investment in Thailand and Asean as Japan had previously been planning foreign investment because of the strength of the yen, said AP.
Airlines had planned to increase US-Japan flying by 10.2 percent next month compared with April 2010, according to Barclays Capital. AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Delta would have the biggest percentage increases. Both airlines just started flights to Tokyo Haneda airport earlier this year.
By David Wilkening
