Hawaii will benefit from Japan’s pledge to earmark more than $395 billion for reconstruction, crisis management and economic revitalization, its top priority two years after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The Japanese government plans to spend $106 billion to fund job creation and reconstruction efforts, enhance innovation, strengthen domestic demand and create global opportunities. It has increased its budget to approximately $266 billion from $202 billion to accelerate the reconstruction of disaster- affected areas and create a newly revitalized Tohoku Region. In an effort to ensure readiness for any future crises or disasters, Japan also plans to invest $23.4 billion to strengthen infrastructure and restore public facilities, such as schools, highways and bridges.
"After two years of steady progress, the government of Japan is firmly committed to further accelerating its reconstruction efforts," Takumi Nemoto, Japan’s minister for reconstruction, said in a press release handed out Friday during a media luncheon at the official residence of the Honolulu-based Consul General of Japan Toyoei Shigeeda.
The investment in reconstruction, crisis management and economic revitalization will help encourage economic growth and consumer confidence, said Dave Erdman, president and CEO of PacRim Marketing Group Inc. & PRTech LLC.
"A stronger Japan economy with hope, vision and confidence in the future will bode well for the Japan outbound tourism to Hawaii," Erdman said.
Joe Toy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors LLC, agrees that a stimulus program will increase real income, consumer savings and then in turn spending. Hawaii tourism benefited in 2012 from Japan’s push to encourage outbound travel to reduce pressure on the county’s power grid and to encourage residents to serve as ambassadors for Japan through their own travels.
"Last year we had projected Japanese visitor arrivals would grow by 8 percent, but they were actually double that," Toy said.
Hawaii tourism also saw gains from Japan in the 1980s when the Japanese government introduced a 10 million visitor outbound program, and in the 1990s when the country rolled out a 20 million outbound visitor program, Toy said.
"Japan still strives to reach 20 million outbound travelers, and the country’s approach to reach this target will benefit Hawaii," Erdman said.
This year the Hawaii Tourism Authority is projecting that Japanese arrivals will grow by 13 percent to 1.64 million and that expenditures could grow by 16.4 percent to $3.06 billion. In partnership with the Japan Association of Travel Agents, Hawaii has committed to reaching 2 million Japanese visitors by 2016, said HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney.
"We have a special relationship with the Japan market and are committed to continue to grow interest and travel from this area," McCartney said. "We have seen numerous new flights come out of the region, from Sapporo, Fukuoka and now Sendai, demonstrating their continued interest in travel to Hawaii."
Japan also desires to have "Two-Way Tourism," and for its country to have more economic growth, it is important for its inbound tourism market to grow not just from within Asia, but from Hawaii and the U.S., Erdman said.
"Two-way tourism is good for all of us. Building bonds of friendship and giving our aloha spirit as we travel will encourage more first-timers to come to Hawaii from Japan, and not just to Oahu, but to visit our neighbor islands," he said. "I encourage those thinking of an overseas vacation to consider going to Japan and exploring areas outside of central metropolitan cities to learn more about our friends and neighbors, and return to them the support that they need in this time of reconstruction and revitalization."
The people of Japan also have been encouraged by the continued and generous support from Hawaii, Shigeeda said.
"There has been a variety of financial and spiritual support, which has been the most precious," he said. "I have been asked to convey the gratitude of the Tohoku people and to encourage the people of Hawaii to pay a visit to them."
In other areas of Japan like Fukushima that were affected by the nuclear disaster, Shigeeda said that progress has been made, but the local people are getting tired of their lives in temporary houses.
"Parents and children seem to be getting tired," he said. "They need to look to a partner who can help them recover their spirt."
Hawaii expatriate Marian Moriguchi, who lives in Fukushima, said much cleanup work is going on along the coast, such as sorting rubble into metal, rubber and stone, and then piling it.
"However, it will take many years to complete this," Moriguchi said, adding that more funds are needed for programs such as Fukushima Kids and Rainbow Kids that send Japanese children in affected areas to Hawaii.
