Japan To Give 10,000 Free Flights To Boost Tourism?

We’re not the first to mention it, but in case you haven’t heard, Japan is talking about giving away 10,000 free flights to international visitors in order to boost tourism. Since the triple disaster Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Accident in Fukushima, tourism in Japan has taken a serious hit. People don’t feel it’s safe to visit Japan anymore, and to fight this perception the Japanese government are trying to give out 10,000 free flights to bring bloggers and others with internet presence into their country so they’ll write about their trip.

Nothing is official yet as you can see from the special message posted on the Japanese Tourism Organizations website (as of 10/12/2011 they’ve posted a temporary homepage which reads “Recently a number of media outlets have publicized articles about “Japan Offers 10,000 free flights to foreigners”, however it is subject to government budgetary approval, and no details have been decided yet. Therefore no related information is included in our website.”). With tourism down over 30% since last March when disaster struck, Japan needs to do something to bring it back. It’s unfortunate because Japan is a great place to visit, with friendly people and a wonderfully unique culture. I visited Japan back in 2008 and had an amazing time; I for sure plan on applying for this free flight if the Japanese government can find the money to go through with it.