The Okinawa Prefectural Government and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry agreed Monday to set up a council to promote tourism to Okinawa, where the industry has been suffering since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
The council will consist of travel agencies, airlines, government-related bodies and others and will discuss how to calm public fears of terrorism on airlines and at U.S. military bases in Okinawa.
Since the attacks, about 120,000 people have canceled package tours to the prefecture, 102,000 of whom were students going on school excursions, the ministry said.
The prefecture has served as one of most important logistic bases for the U.S. military in the Asia-Pacific region, which has deployed large-scale units to the Indian Ocean.
During Monday's meeting in Okinawa with ministry officials and tourism-related companies, Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine stressed that Okinawa has been in "a totally normal condition" and invited tourists from across the country to visit.
The land ministry, meanwhile, sent a notice to ministry branches and ministry-affiliated bodies across the country urging them to hold as many seminars and conferences as possible in Okinawa to help the local economy.
Council members will include representatives from JTB Corp., Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Japan Airlines Co., All Nippon Airways Co., the Cabinet Office, the land ministry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Airline aid mulled
The government is considering providing credit to airlines and travel agencies, whose earnings have taken a beating since the terror attacks in the United States, a senior transport ministry official said Monday.
"We are considering such issues as the provision of Development Bank of Japan loans," or the use of existing lending mechanisms for small and midsize firms, which include many travel-related business operators," said Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Masato Obata.
Also on the table, he said, was the possibility of devising new lending facilities.
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