With the Hokkaido tourism industry estimating losses of around ¥29 billion from the recent deadly earthquake, due to widespread hotel cancellations following the disaster, Niseko, a famous ski resort in the prefecture that escaped relatively unscathed from the quake, is seeking to promote its safety as it readies for its high season.
"Niseko did not suffer any serious damage ... and electric power was back just one day after the quake, so we have not experienced many problems," said Shunichiro Kawauchi, spokesman at Niseko Resort Tourist Association Co., during an interview with The Japan Times.
The quake rocked Hokkaido on Sept. 6, triggering a serious power shortage, with tremors in the southern part of the prefecture registering the maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. But in Niseko, located about 100 kilometers west of the hardest-hit town of Atsuma, the earthquake was a level-four event. According to the Hokkaido Prefectural Government, a total of 942,000 people had canceled their bookings for accommodation facilities in the prefecture as of Saturday, and the overall financial damage to its tourism industry, including the impact on restaurants and souvenir shops, is estimated to reach about ¥29.2 billion.