Japan opens bookings for discounted travel to quake-struck Kumamoto

TOKYO – Japan began accepting reservations on Sept 15 for discounted travel and hotel stays in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures, under a campaign aimed at supporting the tourism industry across the south-western main island of Kyushu following a major earthquake in July.The five other prefectures in Kyushu are set to begin taking reservations later. The campaign offers discounts of 60 per cent in Kumamoto and Kagoshima, both prefectures where many hotel bookings were cancelled after the magnitude-7.1 earthquake, and 50 per cent discounts elsewhere.The maximum discount per person per trip is up to 20,000 yen (S$165) for a one-night stay, 30,000 yen for stays of two nights or more, and 35,000 yen for trips involving overnight stays in at least two prefectures.Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Oita prefectures have announced that the discounts will apply to travel from Oct 1 through Dec 25. Saga is set to begin accepting reservations from Sept 24 and Oita and Miyazaki in late September.Fukuoka aims to launch its campaign in October. Kagoshima, meanwhile, is considering starting in mid-October after its own tourism discount program ends on Oct 13.The impact of the July 28 earthquake on tourism has been severe. Cancelled hotel bookings in Kumamoto Prefecture were worth about 2.7 billion yen as of Aug 21, while those in Kagoshima Prefecture totalled about 2.3 billion yen by the end of August.At a morning press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the government hopes the campaign will help counter reputational damage to the region and “steadily advance the recovery of tourism” across Kyushu.Following the 2016 Kumamoto and 2024 Noto peninsula earthquakes, Japan introduced similar travel discount programs, in which the government subsidises accommodation and tour costs up to a certain amount. KYODO NEWS