Destinations known | Japan’s solution to expected Olympic overcrowding – free flights out of major cities
- With a little help from the Tokyo Olympics, Japan hopes to welcome 40 million international arrivals in 2020
- Japan Airlines is launching a campaign of complimentary jaunts to get people out of the congested capital
Japan has big hopes for 2020. The hosting of the year’s Summer Olympics is expected to help lift tourism arrivals to an impressive 40 million. To put that into perspective, from January to October, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) recorded almost 27 million visits, an upswing in Western travellers during the Rugby World Cup negated by a slump in South Koreans because of the ongoing trade dispute between two of Asia’s strongest economies.
As the largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games generate a lot of international interest in the host nations. In 2016, Brazil set a tourism record, boosted by its Olympic association, and VisitBritain counted 870,000 international arrivals there specifically for the 2012 London games. Only Beijing saw a slump in overseas visitor numbers during tenure as Olympic host, although that was largely because of the global financial crisis.
That is the solution proposed by Japan Airlines (JAL), anyhow. On December 26, the national carrier announced that it would be giving away 50,000 domestic round-trip tickets to foreign nationals for travel between July and September next year.
The Japan Times reported that the initiative is designed to encourage visitors to “travel to rural areas in the country and experience local attractions”. That the campaign will result in more customers joining JAL’s mileage programme – applicants will have to join to be in with a chance of flying for free – is surely just a happy coincidence.