Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011

On March 11, 2011, one of the greatest earthquakes in history hit the north-east coast of Japan’s Honshu island, followed by a deadly tsunami reaching as high as 10 meters. These Acts of God took lives of more than 20,000 people and left tens of thousands of families homeless. The quake and the tsunami not only destroyed area’s important industries and commerce but harmed many cultural properties. Tourism sector was also badly hit. Suffering directly from the loss of tourism/cultural assets, transportation, and accommodation facilities, and from the possibility of further earthquakes, scheduled blackouts, and moreover, a general sense of restraint, Japan’s tourism business, outbound as well as inbound and domestic, was drastically decreased. Inbound tourist in April 2011 was less than 40% of the same month previous year. The Tourism Agency is taking every measures to revive the tourism traffic but after four months, it is well lower than the average.