Japan Tourism Is Using Celebrity Chefs to Make the Country More Palatable to U.S. Travelers
Skift Take
Japan Tourism really thinks that U.S. travelers are turning Japanese, or at least their travel wish lists are. The tourism board is more building off the momentum it already has in the U.S. But most U.S. travelers don't speak Japanese, and that will continue to be a sticking point for the country's tourism.
Japanese culture is often close to home for Americans, whether it's at a sushi or ramen restaurant, a karaoke bar, a karate studio, Hello Kitty items in the local toy store, anime, origami, samurais, or geishas in movies and pop culture.
But the Japanese language can cause anxiety for some American travelers who might perceive the country as a difficult place to visit.
The Japan National Tourism Organization, the country's tourism board, however, feels Dale Talde, a Filipino-American chef with TV credits on "Top Chef" and restaurants in New York City and Miami, and other chefs are the universal language in its marketing arsenal that will speak to Americans' growing appetites for Japanese cuisine.
Earlier this month, the tourism board launched a campaign aimed at U.S. travelers that features Talde in three short videos cooking his original recipes using Japanese ingredients. Viewers are encouraged to vote for their favorite recipe through February 28, and the grand prize winner will win a round-trip coach airfare to Japan for two.
The U.S. market is already a bright spot for Japan – some 1.2 million U.S. travelers visited Japan in 2016, a 20 percent increase over 2015. That's up from 565,000 in 2011 when an earthquake killed nearly 16,000 people and led to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
Parts of the country are s
