Japan offers free return flights to revive tourism after Fukishima disaster

10,000 tickets on offer in attempt to bolster industry hit hard by March earthquake and tsunami, which killed up to 20,000 Justin McCurry Wednesday 12 October 2011 guardian.co.uk
Seven months after much of its north-east coast was destroyed by a tsunami, Japan is attempting to revive tourism by offering free return flights to 10,000 foreign visitors.

Vocabulary
To revive- to activate, to set in motion, to restore, to make something work again To bolster- to add to, to support Crippled- damaged to the point that it cant be used anymore Equivalent- equal in value, the same Expense- cost To recover- return to the level that it was before, to regain strength To trigger- to initiate, to start To reassure- to restore confidence, to tell someone that everything is ok To concede- to admit that something is true To deter- to put someone off doing something Out of reach- impossible

Japan's tourism agency said the programme, which will begin in April, is expected to cost more than 1bn yen (10m), equivalent to about 10% of its budget. The crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Applicants will be asked to explain their travel plans and answer questions about post-disaster tourism in Japan. The successful applicants will receive free return air tickets, but must pay for their accommodation and other expenses.

Vocabulary work
Whats the difference between these words? a) b) c) d) tourism, tour, tourist agent, agency programme, program apply, applicant, application Fill in the gaps: London receives a great number of .. every year. He has made a lot of enemies being a special Americas space.uses special computer.. To get into university all the . had to fill in . forms. Tourism really helped a . economy.

Tourism to Japan dropped dramatically after the 11 March disaster, which left almost 20,000 people dead or missing and triggered the worst nuclear accident in the country's history. In April, international visitor numbers stood at 296,000, according to the Japan national tourism agency (JNTO), down 63% on 2010; by August they had recovered to 547,000, but this was still 32% less than last year. "The Asian market has been showing the fastest recovery, with visitors to Japan from south-east Asia having already returned to positive growth compared with pre-disaster figures," said Mamoru Kobori, the JNTO's executive director of marketing and promotion. "Within Europe, the UK is leading the way in picking up the number of visitors to Japan." Kobori said the agency had already invited more than 1,000 journalists and travel industry executives in an attempt to reassure the world that Japan is a safe destination. "[We want them] not to just take our word for it, but to come and see for themselves how the Japan of today offers as memorable and diverse a travel experience as ever," he said. The agency hopes the programme will boost spending, particularly in regional economies: spending by visitors dropped by 47% in the three months after the disaster compared with last year. Tourism officials concede many international visitors are still deterred by the continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis and the yen's rise to a record high against the dollar. Before the disaster, officials had set a target of attracting 30 million foreign visitors a year, a goal that appears well out of reach, at least for the next few years. If all goes to plan the agency will start accepting online applications the following month, and select the candidates by early summer.

e) countrys, countries, countries

Writing tasks: Apply to get free tickets to Japan. You have to write why you should be chosen. Write an advert convincing more people to come to Georgia. Pretend you are the Japanese Minister for Tourism. Come and do a speech in Tbilisi- how would you encourage people to come and visit your country?