New JTB trams hitting Waikiki

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Japan Travel Bureau will have seven trams on the streets of Waikiki by the end of the month, a $2 million investment.

The 48-passenger trams began hitting the streets in April and take JTB customers between Ala Moana Center and various points in Waikiki daily.

JTB also offers its Oli' Oli' customers trolleys, sightseeing buses, and taxis. E Noa Tours operates the trolley system, and has been contracted to run the trams as well, said JTB general manager of tour planning Yujiro Kuwabara.

JTB's Oli' Oli' package, created in 1995, offers visitors more flexibility and independent movement than its traditional package tours, Kuwabara said.

JTB Hawai'i chief promoted

Takeshi Kitamura, president and chief executive of JTB Hawaii Inc. for the past two years, has been promoted to president of JTB World Vacations Inc. He will relocate from Honolulu to Tokyo, where he will start his new job June 25.

JTB World Vacations is the division of JTB responsible for leisure-market package tours worldwide except for Hawai'i and Guam.

Replacing Kitamura is Noriharu Takazawa, who will be based in Tokyo. Takazawa was formerly managing director of Pacific Micronesia Tours.

Hawai'i operations will be headed by executive vice president Honolulu-based Akio Yamakita. He was previously in Tokyo as managing director of JTB Hawaii Inc.