300 Japan travel agents welcomed

Japanese travel agents read the itinerary on shopping bags before entering the trade show. Photos by Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Keiko Johnson from KBOS sits in an underwater craft at a trade show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village put on for the visiting travel agents and showcasing products and services from 42 local companies.

Three hundred travel agents and tour wholesalers arrived from Japan yesterday on a three-day promotional trip aimed at boosting Hawai'i's slumping tourism from Japan.

Part of joint efforts to reinvigorate the market, the tour comes three months after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington left the industry reeling as reluctant fliers stayed away.

Travel from Japan, the second-largest source of visitors to Hawai'i, has plunged since Sept. 11. Japanese arrivals are still down 46 percent from a year ago, while arrivals from the Mainland are off only 4 percent.

Last night the agents attended a trade show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village co-sponsored by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Japan Association of Travel Agents that highlighted local products and services.

Forty-two local companies took part, representing airlines, hotels, tour wholesalers, transportation, attractions and retail.

A second group of 500 agents from JATA, Japan's largest travel organization, arrive Friday.