Tourism Megaquake fears hit Japan's tourism industry

I feel sorry for the local tourist industry. As if the pandemic hadn't hit them bad enough, now a perhaps ill-worded government advisory led people to cancel their trips and family visits during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.


Coastal hotels and ryokan in central and western Japan are facing a wave of cancellations due to heightened anxiety over a potential megaquake. The Japan Meteorological Agency's unprecedented advisory, issued during the peak summer travel season, has prompted thousands of tourists to scrap their plans. Sansuien, a ryokan in Kochi Prefecture, reported losing bookings for nearly 450 guests just one day after the agency's warning. Many cited safety concerns as the reason for cancelling their trips. While understanding the public's fears, ryokan officials are grappling with the significant financial impact of these cancellations.

In the Shizuoka Prefecture city of Shimoda, located at the tip of Izu Peninsula, reservations for a total of over 550 people have been canceled. It is estimated that up to a 33-meter tsunami would hit the area in the event of the Nankai Trough megaquake. Toshihito Okumura, an official at a local ryokan cooperative association based around the famous Dogo hot spring area in Matsuyama in the western Japan prefecture of Ehime, said he expects at least 1,000 cancellations in the week through next Thursday. "The fallout is expected to continue for a while," Okumura said. In Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture, its famous white sand beach was closed, and a fireworks festival was also called off. According to the prefectural government, one hotel was flooded with telephone calls asking whether it was safe to stay and was hit with 350 cancellations.

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Shigeki Yamashita from the local tourism association expressed disappointment over the timing of the quake advisory, which coincided with the peak of the tourist season. As a precaution, beaches have been closed, and swimming has been prohibited in several coastal areas, including Shizuoka and Mie prefectures, which are at risk of being affected by a potential Nankai Trough earthquake. Even areas on higher ground have not been immune to the advisory's impact. The Kumano Kodo Center in Mie, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has decided to close its doors until Thursday despite its elevated location.

thomas said:

As a precaution, beaches have been closed, and swimming has been prohibited in several coastal areas, including Shizuoka and Mie prefectures, which are at risk of being affected by a potential Nankai Trough earthquake.

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Well that's dumb.