The impact of the Tokoku Pacific earthquake and tsunami on Japanese Travel & Tourism
Following the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, WTTC commissioned Oxford Economics to develop scenarios for the recovery of Japans Travel & Tourism. These scenarios are updated on a quarterly basis.
The scenarios, based on research into the recovery times of previous crises, suggested that the impact of the disaster on Japans Travel & Tourism could range from Yen 2 trillion to Yen 900 billion in 2011, depending on the resolution of the nuclear crisis, the willingness of the Japanese to start travelling again and the clarity and tone of the governments communications to international visitors.
The first update, launched in September 2011, suggested that recovery was in line with the lowest impact scenario and that domestic and international tourism was returning to normal quicker than expected.
The second update, released in December 2011, reviewed the initial scenarios according to latest data and found that domestic and outbound travel had reverted to pre-March levels, whereas inbound travel was still below baseline expectations, but would recover in 2012.
The third and final update, released one year after the earthquake in March 2012, tracks the recovery in domestic, outbound and inbound travel in Japan and looks at what 2012 has in store.