The September 11th attack
State urged to reassure Japanese tourists

Advertiser Staff

Japanese tourism leaders urged state officials yesterday to quickly reassure Japanese tourists that Hawai'i is a safe place to travel.

Gov. Ben Cayetano met with leading lawmakers and members of the Japan-Hawaii Travel Association yesterday to discuss the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Japanese tourism.

Steve Kawagishi, chief executive officer of the Japan-Hawaii Travel Association, said the group urged Cayetano to travel to Japan, "the sooner the better."

Cayetano is tentatively scheduled to travel to Japan Oct. 7-12, and former Govs. George Ariyoshi and John Waihe'e III are expected to join him.

"We emphasized to him his message will have a big impact to Japanese travelers," Kawagishi said. "Now they're kind of converting into domestic traveling or going to some other destination, but we could even convert those people who are going to someplace else to come to Hawai'i because it's a safer place."

Some Japanese may be reluctant to come to the United States to have fun after the attack because they feel bad about it, just as many declined to come to Hawai'i while American soldiers were fighting in the Gulf War.

"We have to emphasize that we're waiting for them to come and have an enjoyable trip and we don't mind that, aside from our feelings for those who lost their lives," Kawagishi said. "With the assurance of the governor and the delegates going there, telling them things are normal, business as usual, we're hoping that they will come."

Kawagishi said he expects September and October will have about half the normal traffic from Japan, but it's still unclear what will happen in November.

"They're not doing cancellations yet," he said. "We don't know, there might be 10 percent (cancellations), could be 20 percent, but it could be even better."

Not everyone was reassured by the meeting. Senate President Robert Bunda concluded that Japanese tourism is bouncing back to about 30 percent to 40 percent of normal, "we're going to have to rely on our Mainland travelers."

"I'm getting a feel that this is somewhat extended. In other words, the fear of flying is still out there, and for the Japan tourists, it may take a while before it gets back up to normal," Bunda said as he left the meeting.

"While I think the Japanese may still look at Hawai'i as a safe place to be, a nice place to come, there's still that doubt," he said. "My feeling is it may be more extended than I thought it was going to be."