Travel firms feel pinch, pitch in after disasters | The Japan Times

For the travel industry, the March 11 disaster could hardly have struck at a worse time. The threat of radiation — paired with travel warnings that reached as far south as Tokyo — hit home with prospective holidaymakers. Travelers scrapped their vacation plans; tour companies cancelled many scheduled group tours. Not surprisingly, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) statistics for March confirm a plunge in visitor numbers to 352,800 arrivals — half the previous year’s total of 709,684. Figures that had been steadily climbing over the last decade fell suddenly to record lows.