JASH Japan Travel Update Webinar

On June 17, 2020, the Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH) hosted a panel discussion webinar entitled, “JASH Japan Travel Update.” This was JASH’s first endeavor at virtual programming and we were very pleased to have 160+ people register to attend the program. Panelists addressed questions such as: What is Japanese sentiment in terms of travel to Hawaii and travel as a whole? What has the loss of the Japanese visitors meant in dollars to our economy? What will it take to attract the Japanese visitor back to Hawaii?

Yoshikazu Kutara General Manager TTA Inc., Hawaii Branch

Mike McCartney Director, Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism State of Hawaii

Eric Takahata Managing Director Hawaii Tourism Japan

Moderated by Steve Sombrero, JASH Board Chairman and President and Principal Owner of Cushman & Wakefield Chaney Brooks

Mr. McCartney opened the discussion assuring the community that Hawaii will open for tourism when it is safe for both the people of Hawaii and visitors. He spoke about the State of Hawaii’s strong relationship with the Japanese government and discussions regarding a possible travel corridor between the two countries by August or the beginning of the third quarter.

Mr. Takahata spoke about how like Hawaii, the COVID-19 per capita infectious rate in Japan is low. Knowing this statistic, the Japanese tourists are ready to travel to Hawaii according to various surveys. But Japanese tourist will be expecting safety measures to be in place before they feel safe to travel.

Mr. Kutara expressed the frustration of the Japanese tourist due to the 14 day quarantine in Hawaii as well as the restrictions on international travel by the Japanese government. He says Japanese are anxious to come to Hawaii and will follow safety protocols as long as there are not to many added costs factors involved.

The discussion was followed by a Q & A session. JASH is grateful to our moderator and expert line-up of panelists who provided their insights on Hawaii Tourism with a focus on the Japanese market.

To view the entire panel discussion webinar as well as the Q & A session CLICK HERE