Delegation hopes to keep Japan visitors coming

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

A delegation of state government and business leaders announced yesterday it is planning a trip to Japan within two to three weeks of a war with Iraq in an attempt to preserve Japanese tourism here.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Japanese tourists chose to stay home rather than travel to Hawai'i, and Japanese arrivals plunged by 50 percent. For almost six months after the Gulf War in 1991, Japanese tourism dropped by nearly 40 percent.

State Rep. Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Hts., Palolo, Wilhelmina Rise) said he doesn't want to see a repeat performance.

"Our Japanese visitors will stay at home," the House speaker said yesterday. "They are concerned about the impression they would make by spending their vacation in part of a nation that is about to go to war. They also have safety concerns we would like to allay."

Say said plans to form a delegation for Japan were based upon recommendations by the state House Select Committee on War Preparedness.

"This is what we plan to do now, before the situation gets worse," said Say.

Besides Say, delegation members will include former Hawai'i Gov. George Ariyoshi; Rex Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority; Peter Schall, senior vice president of Hilton Hotels Corp., Hawai'i region; Mike Shibuya, president of Paradise Beverages; and Walter Dods, chairman and CEO of First Hawaiian Bank.

Say said money for past delegations has come from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, and he hopes to obtain money from HTA for this mission.

Say said he plans to ask Gov. Linda Lingle to lead the delegation.

Lingle said yesterday that it was premature to be making a decision about going to Japan to encourage visitors.

"We'll just have to see how it plays out," she said. "I'm hoping to travel to Japan in the coming years, but this is going to be very difficult and sensitive times so it's too early for me to be making plans."

Lingle also said she'd met with the Japanese counsel general and tourism executives several weeks ago to discuss what steps could be taken, among them a letter from the governor to be published in travel publications encouraging Japanese nationals to visit the state.

Schall, the Hilton executive, said a similar delegation to Japan, lead by former Gov. Ben Cayetano after the Sept. 11 attacks, was helpful in bringing tourism back to pre-attack levels.

Cayetano and his delegation met with government leaders, who in turn held press conferences assuring the Japanese that it would not be disrespectful to travel.

Tourism levels rose to 50 percent of pre-9/11 rates within six months to 100 percent within a year, he said.

"After all," Schall said, "travel leads to the sharing of cultures and to peace."

Schall said that Hilton reservations from international tourists, including Japan and European visitors, had fallen slightly through March in anticipation of the war. Domestic reservations remained strong, he said.

Rep. Sylvia Luke, D-26th (Punchbowl, Pacific Hts., Nu'uanu Valley), chair of the House Select Committee on War Preparedness, said the committee had talked to police, fire, emergency medical personnel and other officials and was convinced that Hawai'i "is as safe as it can be."

Say said that the committee will keep in close communication with federal intelligence-gathering agencies to make sure Hawai'i is as safe as officials say it is, and that airport security remains high so that visitors won't have to be concerned about travel.

State officials have repeatedly said that terrorism threats against Hawai'i are low.

When Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge raised the nation's security alert level to orange several weeks ago, Hawai'i remained at a lower level.

Staff writer Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report.