Kiyoko Tanji, right, and Yumi Ozaki of Hawaii Tourism Japan presented the "Six Islands" campaign at a meeting in January.
Japan on
the reboundStrong Golden Week arrivals and solid
Obon bookings speak to a recovering
Japan market and could be a result
of Dentsu's marketing
It's too early to tell if the state's marketing effort to increase arrivals from Japan is working, but judging from the rebound in numbers it couldn't have hurt, visitor industry experts have said.
Since January, the face of local ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, the spokesman for the state's newly-launched "Six Islands, Six Surprises," marketing campaign in Japan, has peered out of posters in Japan's subway stations and appeared on the top TV stations. A Web site, www.GoHawaii.jp, was posted and a picture and information gallery opened in the popular Shidome neighborhood in Tokyo.
The campaign, run by Dentsu Inc., Japan's largest advertising agency, is meant to tell Japan visitors that there's more to do here than shop and lie on the beach. Providing a unique visitor experience is the philosophy behind the state's Hawaii Tourism Japan campaign, said Takashi Ichikura, executive director of Hawaii Tourism Japan.
While the campaign is new, spring travel numbers indicate it could be working, said Gilbert Kimura, spokesman for Japan Airlines, which handles 60 percent of the Japan travel market.
Hawaii's visitor industry experienced a big rebound in Golden Week travelers and an equally strong showing is expected during Obon, the traditional Japanese summer travel period, Kimura said.
Arrivals from Japan were flat in January and February, but picked up 116 percent in March, 155 percent in April and rose 217 percent during Golden Week, according to numbers released yesterday by JAL, Kimura said.
Golden Week, which ran April 28 to May 9, is a traditional spring travel period for the Japanese. Visitor industry experts often use this season, which bunches several national holidays together, to gauge how the market will perform in the months to come. "Starting from March, there was a big turn in the numbers and we saw more Japanese tourists coming back to Hawaii," Kimura said.
More Japanese tourists are traveling now that SARS is declining, the War in Iraq has begun to settle, and the Japanese economy is rebounding, he said.
During the summer months, the airlines also will be adding 1,000 extra seats, which, coupled with a huge push for the Dentsu campaign, could mean extremely good news for the state's Japan tourism levels, said Ryokichi Tamaki, senior vice president of Jalpak International (Hawaii).
"I'm very supportive of the campaign," Tamaki said. "Hawaii used to be known only for its beach resorts, but now people also seek out the greenery. The mountains of Hawaii are also very much accepted all over the world."
But, there's also plenty of competition from other locations, Ichikura said.
If Hawaii wants to return to the peak of Japanese tourism, when 2.2 million came in 1997, the travel industry will have to find ways to counter the allure of emerging destinations like China, Korea and Thailand, Ichikura said.
The Dentsu campaign hopes to increase the popularity of Hawaii as a destination by showing prospective Japan tourists a side of paradise that they've never seen before, said Yumi Ozaki, manager of Hawaii Tourism Japan.
Shimabukuro is shown against images depicting the state's blue skies, red earth, green jungles and black lava. The scenes and colors are desired to appeal to a broad segment of tourists ranging from baby boomers to honeymooners and multi-generational groups.
"Up to this point, Hawaii has only been associated with the blue of the sky and the ocean," Osaka said. "The theme colors used in the posters are symbolic of the natural heritage of Hawaii and create a striking contrast when shown side by side."
