U.S. and Japan tourism
delegations to caucus

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Star-Bulletin Staff

Amid concerns about Japanese arrivals to Hawaii, a delegation of U.S. and Japan tourism leaders meets next week in Ko Olina to discuss plans to improve travel.

The meeting is scheduled to take place Monday and Tuesday at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, said Victoria Park, spokeswoman for the U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration.

The delegation is expected to be led by Douglas B. Baker, who is the Commerce Department's deputy assistant secretary for service industries, tourism and finance; and Satoru Kanazawa, director general of the Tourism Department, a policy bureau of the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The meeting is meant to be a follow-up to a "memorandum of understanding" signed April 19 in Tokyo by representatives of the United States and Japan, Park said.

The agreement called for the creation of a council that would attempt to recover the loss of tourism business to Sept. 11.

Japan Airlines reported Monday its international passenger counts fell 6.2 percent during the peak summer travel season, prompting the airline to consider eliminating one of its four daily Tokyo-Honolulu flights.

Hawaii's arrivals from Japan fell 20 percent in the first half of the year, according to state figures.