Tourism banks on Japan boost

(AAP) Australia's flagging tourism industry is banking on renewed Japanese interest with the announcement of new flights from Tokyo to Cairns and the Gold Coast.

Jetstar on Thursday became the largest Australian airline operating between Japan
and Australia with the announcement of an expanded schedule.
Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) managing director Matt Hingerty said the
extra services could not have come at a better time.
"Recently the Japanese inbound market has struggled," he said.
"We can't expect to grow a market if we don't have the spare capacity to carry the
extra tourists."
The low-cost airline will operate 19 direct flights between Australia and Japan each
week.
These include a new five times weekly Gold Coast-Tokyo service and daily
Cairns-Tokyo service in addition to its existing daily Osaka-Gold Coast-Sydney
service.
This will grow to 21 weekly services on the Australia-Japan route from March 29,
when the Gold Coast-Tokyo service runs seven days a week.
Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the current economic conditions and
improved exchange rate for Japanese visitors were creating some of the best value
for holidaymakers in almost a decade.
The airline plans to spend $20 million on marketing in Japan over the coming year.