As the title suggests, I implore you to go to Japan. This is of course coming from a man that hasn’t yet visited. I’ll explain…
Spring just gone I was meant to travel to Japanand go on a three week jolly over the royal wedding period. I had been planning it for five months, saving for six. Tokyo, Yokohama, Hakone and Kyota were all on the agenda but sadly a week before I was due to board the plane; Japan endured the worst natural disaster in its history. The 2011 Tsunami devastated a nation that still to this day continues to struggle against what happened almost eight months ago. The Tsunami consequently had huge implications on the proud nation. Foreign tourists travelling to Japan fell more than 50% year-on-year during the three months after the March 11 Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown. Clearly something needs to be done.
I was on my iPad the other day, flipping through The Telegraph and I came across this story of how the Japanese tourist board intend on reversing the ‘buck’ and renew the interest in tourism. The idea is to offer free flights in exchange that people will write/blog/post about their experiences on the Internet and the general consensus is thatJapan is safe to travel again. 10,000 flights will be available, IF the budget is passed.
Of course, the flights will not be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants must give a good account of themselves as to why they should be given a ‘golden ticket’.
I think the idea has huge potential and I really hope it passes the finance barometer. This is a story that people will talk about on and offline. It will bring Japanback into people’s thoughts and consciousness. Social media will be imperative too. Monitoring blogs such as this. Tweets. Facebook conversations. It’s certainly going to be a huge job of monitoring that but I suppose the proof will be increased visitors.
I’d be very surprised if this didn’t work. Come on finance, sign that cheque! I will of course be applying 🙂 Thr333 week’s away from my beloved social media agency White Hat Media will have to be done! Sayonara 🙂
Steven Gradidge. Hi :) 