Japan continues to blossom...

We all know that when you plan to go on that memorable trip there is often a great deal of planning and research involved by yourself and/or your travel agent. Or, at the very least, we can acknowledge that this would certainly help. Unfortunately however, even with all this planning you may, for whatever reason, need to postpone or cancel your travel plans.

Sometimes even, your travel provider knows very well that you will be calling to cancel well before you start dialing.

When one of the largest off-shore earthquakes ever recorded unleashed a tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011, many people cancelled. A lot of people cancelled. Some questions were asked, suggestions were given, and helpful advice was offered. Such expert advice helped guests decide not to cancel but just to re-route their Japan itinerary. Tourism would survive.

       When news broke that another earthquake hit the country 1 month later and that the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was heavily damaged causing a nuclear meltdown releasing radioactive materials, everyone cancelled. Reasons? No need; we get it.

Those that did not outright cancel decided to route elsewhere; ideally faraway from nuclear fallout. Japan tourism was in trouble.

The world watched as unknown heroes risked their lives in Fukushima to avoid an all out nuclear disaster as residents were told to evacuate. We watched as Japanese bound together to help one another find lost loved ones, beloved pets, and any remnants of their homes. We watched a nation admirably support their countrymen during a most tragic time. Youtube was filled with devastating videos and moving stories, and just as quickly we started to see a clean up unlike anywhere in the world. We are now seeing a country that was hit by its largest earthquake on record spawning storey’s high Tsunami waves make some of the most impressively big strides back to normalcy. Most notably, Tourism.

In November 2011, both the Japan Tourism Agency and the Japan National Tourism Organization hosted the Visit Japan Travel Mart, an annual gathering of worldwide agencies offering trips to Japan, overseas media agencies and local Japan suppliers, hoteliers, and operators to speak about all things Japan. The main objective: to promote Japan’s tourism by all means possible. This year’s Travel Mart meant a lot.

I had the opportunity to attend this year in the city of Yokohama, nearby Tokyo, and by the number of operators from Canada to China to India to France and beyond, it’s clear that Japan’s tourism is on the move and that travelers will continue to come. In fact, many have started to return already, and trends are showing that things have certainly started to pick up. Tourism has survived.

Japan is fascinating and different. Big yet small. Her culture & tradition, acclaimed worldwide, remains well in tact and with more intriguing and exciting options becoming available tour operators the world over look for more ways to quell the concerns of the recent disaster by offering new, unique and enhanced product offerings. Stay with a local family, learn the teachings of Zen Buddhism at a mountaintop temple, take a stroll along the Kodo Pilgrimage trail, or simply walk and explore the soul of a large & bustling city. Look out for new tours and activities in 2012 to the land of the rising sun.