Dealing with Disaster
3Qs with Mike Roberts in Post-quake Japan
When a powerful earthquake struck Japan on March 11, Mike Roberts, owner of Samurai Tours, was leading a tour in the southern part of the country. Far from the quake's epicenter, he completed that tour but had to cancel several in the following weeks. Roberts resumed tour operations in April. (See the news release about "Rediscovering Japan-USTOA/NTA Mission 2011," the delegation of tour operators traveling to Japan June 21–26.)
As a Japan travel specialist dealing with disaster in Japan, Roberts' experience can provide insight to other operators.
How did the earthquake change your business?
Being a Japan travel specialist at this time has certainly affected business. But, at the same time, it has been our saving grace. While we have certainly been affected by the earthquake, tsunami and power plants, we have been relatively successful at keeping our customers. For about a month after the earthquake, we received cancellations or transfers to other tours. We have maintained about 75 percent of our clients: 15 percent transferred to tours either later in the year or next year, and 60 percent maintained their registrations. Most of the remaining 25 percent cancelled within the first month after the earthquake.
Since the earthquake, we have operated five tours. We did have to cancel several tours immediately after the earthquake. When we did resume operations in April, we initially bypassed Tokyo. By May, though, we were able to resume tour operations in Tokyo.
Have media reports underplayed or overplayed the damage?
From the Japanese point of view, it is not whether the damage was underplayed or overplayed. The focus of the news media has been the issue here in Japan. As the news media always does, they focus on the negative and ignore everything else. You would not believe the number of people who contact us telling us they have heard that the entire country of Japan is suffering from earthquake and tsunami damage, food shortages, rolling blackouts, radiation exposure, etc., even today.
What about the nuclear threat? Underplayed or overplayed in the media?
Once again, only the negative news has been published. The radiation levels over at least 2/3 of the country did not vary after the earthquake. The fact that the radiation levels over most of the country are back to the normal, background levels they were before the earthquake is being ignored and not being reported.
Having said this, in the time immediately after the earthquake, there was a real threat from the power plants. The news just kept getting worse and worse every day. And there was a panic, especially in Tokyo. I also did some soul searching as to whether to stay or not. But now, according to all the experts, the likelihood of another major incident at the plants is highly unlikely.
What do tour operators need to know about traveling in Japan?
Japan is safe. Northern Japan still has its issues, and will continue to have issues for quite some time. However, only a very minor percentage of foreign tourists would ever visit this area of Japan. Typically, you would only find Japanese tourists here. This area of Japan was known for its outdoor activities and onsens (hot springs resorts). The Japanese will probably go to someplace like Hokkaido of the Japan Alps now for outdoor activities, and there are thousands of onsens all over Japan.
What about the outbound market? How has the earthquake disrupted travel to Hawaii, Mainland U.S. and other destinations?
Because of short-term flight cancellations in and out of Narita Airport immediately after the earthquake, there were some minor disruptions of outbound travel to international destinations. But these disruptions were short-lived. Nonetheless, after the earthquake, both domestic travel and outbound international travel by the Japanese dropped by 20-25 percent. This was not due to any kind of physical disruption, but was due to the mental and spiritual mood of the Japanese. They were not in any frame of mind to travel after the disasters as would be expected. This is beginning to change, and I am aware of some programs to induce the Japanese to begin domestic travel again
What did you do that enabled you to hold on to so many clients and bookings?
I think our results started well before March 11. In everything we do, we try to foster a sense of confidence and trust from customers and potential customers. We try to make them feel comfortable with our expertise and knowledge of Japan. And I am convinced that without that confidence and trust, we would have been doomed after March 11.
After March 11, we immediately began sending e-mails to all our existing clients and to our newsletter e-mail list informing them of the latest updates about the situation in Japan. We would periodically check the latest reports from the major news media outlets to see what they were reporting, and try to respond. When there was cause for concern, we were truthful with the clients and informed them of the potential issues.
Also, having a local presence in Japan, and the fact that we were writing to clients from Kyoto, gave us another level of trust with clients. We were living through the results of the disaster, and were able to relay our first-hand observations. I was on the phone with our Tokyo staff every day; they were able to describe what was happening in Tokyo, which we passed on to our clients.