State Is Developing Programs to Give Asian Tourists ‘California Fever’

In increasing numbers they have been coming from places such as Hong Kong, the Philippines and China. California--a long-time favorite of Japanese tourists--is fast becoming the preferred destination of travelers throughout Asia.

Buoyed by their burgeoning economies, more and more residents of the Pacific Basin can afford overseas travel. Anticipating the growth of “California fever,” officials at the California Office of Tourism are now developing plans to establish promotions in various Asian markets while at the same time developing new programs to entice an even larger portion of the Japanese travel market.

The state tourism office and Japan Air Lines, for example, are jointly developing a promotional campaign designed to encourage the Japanese to vacation in the Golden State. Under the program, dubbed the “California Passport” campaign, Japanese citizens will be given coupons entitling them to discounts at California restaurants and shops as a bonus for buying a travel package from JAL. The offer, effective from October through most of April, 1990, will be promoted through the Japanese media. The campaign will commemorate the 30th anniversary of JAL’s U.S.-Japan service.

“California is a very important tourist market for JAL,” said Yoshiko Radtke, a spokeswoman for the airline. “We constantly promote California to promote our business.”

Plan New Terminal

Anticipating an increase in demand for flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco--two of the favored destinations of Japanese tourists--JAL will add two Tokyo-to-Los Angeles flights and five more Tokyo-to-San Francisco trips to its summer schedule, Radtke said. The decisions come in the wake of rising Japanese demand for flights to California’s glamour cities. Japanese travel to Los Angeles rose 15% in 1988 from 1987. Japanese visits to San Francisco increased 16.4% over the same period.

Managers at the San Francisco Airports Commission want to prepare for the expected increase in Asian travelers by building a new international terminal. The $1-billion facility would accommodate 26 gates and a projected 3% to 4% increase in foreign travelers. Between 60% and 70% of those new travelers will be Asian, according to Jason Yuen, director of planning and construction at the commission.

A construction proposal will be submitted in June to the Airports Commission.

“We need a new terminal,” Yuen said. “The traffic from the Pacific is just unbelievable.”

Much of the expected increase in tourism from the Pacific Basin is expected to come from South Korea, whose government paved the way for increased Korean travel by lifting restrictions on overseas journeys early this year.

Before the changes, South Koreans were required to get an invitation from a resident of a foreign country to get a passport from their government. No such requirements exist now. In addition, South Koreans could take no more than two vacation trips abroad a year before restrictions were lifted.

Seeking to reduce the trade deficit with South Korea and Japan, the U.S. government has encouraged the governments of those two countries to make foreign travel easier and more attractive.

Avid Travelers

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department’s travel and tourism department has been encouraging state and local tourism agencies to pursue the Asian travel market. The agency explained the opportunities in a recent memo to the Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau and other public tourism agencies.

“There is no question,” said the memo, “that Pacific Rim countries, particularly those in Asia, are becoming increasingly important as generators of tourism to the United States.

“South Koreans are avid travelers and have the means to travel but have not been afforded the opportunity to go abroad due to highly restrictive government regulations. With the almost complete lifting of these restrictions . . . overseas travel by Koreans is already showing signs of increasing dramatically. . . . It is therefore most important that we initiate a highly visible Visit USA program as immediately as possible.”

The California Office of Tourism has wasted little time. The agency will host a trade mission in Seoul--its first in Korea--next year. Tour packagers, travel agents and representatives of some of the state’s municipal tourism agencies will join the mission, a travel showcase for California, according to Joseph D’Alessandro, manager of international programs for the state tourism office.

Significant Increases

“It’s time for us to expand our marketing in the region,” D’Alessandro said. “South Korea has tremendous potential and California is in position to reap the benefits. California is the principle destination for Koreans interested in visiting the U.S. because of our location on the coast and because of the large Korean-American population here.”

D’Alessandro’s 1990 trade show itinerary also includes Hong Kong. The trade mission may also make its first stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines next year, D’Alessandro said.

The state tourism office and each member of the trade mission spends $3,000 to $4,000 on each trip. Considering the travel trends, the trips are well worth the cost, D’Alessandro said. About 3.3 million Asians vacationed in the United States last year, a rise of 23% over the 1987 total, according to the Commerce Department. Nearly half of all the nation’s Asian visitors spend some time in California, an agency surveys show.

U.S. government agencies have registered significant increases in visitors from a number of Asian territories and countries. The number of Filipino visitors rose from 47,000 in 1986 to 82,000 in 1987, the most recent year for which country-by-country data is available. The total from Hong Kong reached 110,000 in 1987, compared to 63,000 in 1986. The number of Korean visitors rose from 42,000 in 1986 to 72,000 in 1987.

Most Visitors From Japan

However, Japan is Asia’s--and the world’s--leading source of visitors to the United States. It is also the only nation with which the United States enjoys a tourism trade surplus. In all, 2 million Japanese trekked to the United States in 1987, more than double the 945,000 that visited in 1986. Japanese tourists spent $539 million in the United States in 1987, compared to $744 million spent by all the visitors from Western Europe.

Spending and visits by the Japanese are expected to rise again in 1989 partly because the government of Japan is engaged in a campaign to encourage its citizens to vacation abroad. The Japanese government has been publicizing the pleasures of travel and has streamlined travel documentation procedures as part of an effort to double the number of Japanese globe-trotters. The aim: to have 10 million Japanese travel abroad in 1991.

In addition, the Japanese and the U.S. government provided another incentive by allowing Japanese and American tourists and executives to travel to each other’s country without a visa. The visa waiver, effective since January, is for visits of 90 days or less.