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Representatives from a Japanese city’s convention bureau have recently returned from promotional meetings with incentive travel organisers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Kumamoto International Convention and Tourism Bureau officials have been highlighting the city’s new incentive travel subsidy.
The city, in Japan’s southern Kyushu region, is seeking to attract a greater share of Asia’s meetings, incentives, conference and events business. The efforts follow Kumamoto being granted wider powers in 2012 by Japan’s parliament enabling the city to be promoted nationally and overseas.
Shinichi Akahoshi, who heads the Kumamoto convention bureau’s incentive travel programme, says the city will work with neighbouring prefectures in Kyushu such as Fukuoka and Kagoshima, which have international air links.
The Kumamoto Incentive Travel Subsidy assists group travel planners with accommodation and travel expenses and is primarily aimed at drawing incentive groups to Kumamoto City.
Subsidies cover employee training, events such as awards ceremonies, visits to city sites and incentive tours for groups of 30 or more subject to conditions. Assistance amounts to around 2,000 yen (US$19) per delegate per night and a maximum of US$975 in total for the whole visit.
