MICE infrastructure in southern Japan has escaped relatively unscathed from the recent earthquakes, and hundreds of aftershocks that have rocked the region, although disruptions to transportation in the region has led to some incentive programmes being rerouted or cancelled.
The quakes, which have caused the deaths of at least 45 people and more than 1,100 injuries, were centred on the city of Kumamoto in Kyushu.
The initial tremor, with a magnitude of 6.2, struck on the evening of April 14 and was followed less than 48 hours later by a magnitude 7.3 quake. The second earthquake was the most violent quake to strike Japan since the 9.1 Great East Japan Earthquake, which devastated large areas of northeast Japan on March 11, 2011.
“Transportation in the region has been severely affected, with railways and highways closed and flights to and from Kumamoto also disrupted,” said Moe Sasaki, operations coordinator for Destination Asia’s Tokyo office.
The DMC has incentive groups onboard six cruise ships and those that were due to dock at ports closest to the epicentre have been rerouted. Sasaki told TTGmice e-Weekly that affected groups have since been sent on to Fukuoka in northern Kyushu, a city that gets most of the business events traffic into Kyushu.
“Some MICE facilities in the city have received calls from overseas event organisers who are concerned about the earthquake,” confirmed Ken Ueda, head of the MICE section in the Fukuoka City Government.
“But we have been quick to reassure them that we are a long way from the area that has been most seriously affected and there have been no reports of damage to any of our infrastructure or MICE facilities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Japanese NTO has set up a page on its website to provide information on transportation and safety. Further information is available in English, Mandarin and Korean between 9.00 and 17.00 on (81)-3-3201-3331.
