Tsutenkaku Tower
Osaka taps China as it diversifies its largely South-east Asian mix. By Jonathan Packer
NTO The focus of the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau’s (OCTB) masterplan for 2005 to 2010 has been East and South-east Asia.
Countries such as Thailand and Singapore have been Osaka’s main markets, according to Tetsuya Nakamura, assistant manager of the OCTB’s general affairs division. Yoichiro Taguchi, executive director of the Singapore Representative Office of The City of Osaka office, said Malaysia would be the next target market in South-east Asia.
| “Our target market is Japanese but we want to invite more international guests next year.”
Hashizume Hirofumi
General manager
Harmonie Embrassee
Osaka |
According to Nakamura, the city was now working with the Japan National Tourism Organisation in China, which “would be our target now”. The OCTB is pushing its shopping options to East Asian visitors, and highlighting its cuisine and traditional historical culture such as the UNESCO-designated art form, Bunraku puppet theatre, which is being showcased at the Japan pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
Arrivals The Japan Travel Agency plans to attract 25 million visitors to the country by 2019, and Osaka is hoping for a respectable share of this international windfall.
Nakamura said: “Our plan for 2005 to 2010 was to attract two million foreign visitors. We achieved that in 2007.”
Visitor numbers fell last year to 1.7 million from 2.22 million in 2008, due to the economic crisis and the A/H1N1 pandemic.
Osaka is seeking to repair the damage by going after Chinese visitors. Based on the city’s 24.4 per cent visit rate among visitors to Japan, the OCTB estimates the city received some 150,000 Chinese from January to May this year, out of the national total of 600,600.
The city is now readying for the October 9 visit of more than 10,000 Chinese sponsored by Beijing health product company, Baojian. Participants in this six-day shopping and sightseeing incentive will arrive in 10 batches.
Nakamura said: “The OCTB worked for this visit and was strongly involved with the delegation to promote it.”
Access A number of international carriers have added Kansai International Airport to their network this year.
Delta Airlines started flying from Seattle from June 8, while Jetstar Asia Airways launched services from Cairns on April 1 and a daily service from Singapore via Taipei on July 5.
Vietnam Airlines has turned its Osaka-Hanoi flights into a daily service with the addition of a weekly flight from July 1. South Korean budget carrier, Air Busan, mounted new twice-daily services from Busan from April 26. Garuda Indonesia will add an additional flight between Osaka and Denpasar from October 7.
To encourage even more international players to fly to Osaka, Kansai International Airport offers a discount scheme on landing fees. The programme exempts newcomer airlines, whether budget or full-service, from landing fees for the first year of operation.
Hotels The St. Regis Osaka Hotel is scheduled to open this October. The 160-room property will have three F&B outlets and 724m2 of banquet and meetings space, including a rooftop garden reception venue.
Smaller luxury property, the Harmonie Embrassee, opened in the Kita area on April 28. The hotel, with 38 rooms, is presently targeting local guests but intends to start making inroads in the international market next year.
The 18-storey Elsereine Hotel opened on April 22. Minoru Kato, the hotel’s accommodation manager, said: “Most visitors are business travellers and occupancy is around 50 per cent.”
Best Western has chosen Osaka for its 12th flagship in Japan. The 179-room Best Western Hotel Fino Osaka Shinsaibashi opened on July 1 in the heart of the city’s Namba and Umeda business and shopping districts.
Products Universal Studios Japan unveiled its latest attraction on March 19: Space Fantasy, The Ride.
The Suntory Whisky Factory has introduced English- and Chinese-language audio guided tours to boost international visitor numbers, which stood at 1,000 last year.
Osaka Bay is hoping for government approval for a possible casino. Nakamura said: “Osaka Prefecture needs Osaka Bay to be an economic centre as it trades mainly with East Asian countries. (We) hope parliament will allow this development.” Additional reporting by Ollie Quiniquini
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