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Today’s issue of Travel Daily is coming to you from Japan, courtesy of Accor and Qantas for the opening of a new Mercure hotel on the island of Okinawa.
It’s clear after two days in Tokyo, this teeming city of 13 million people is practically back to normal after the disastrous Tsunami 16 months ago, followed by a strong earthquake in the capital. Business travel is booming and tourism numbers are up, and that’s a relief to hoteliers like Pieter De Weerd, General Manager of the Mercure Ginza. “We, and all of the hotels in Tokyo saw a massive number of cancellations, we were less than half full for months, but gradually we recovered and now our 230-room hotel is seeing 80% occupancies,” said De Weerd. Speaking to TD, he says there’s nothing similar in Asia to Japan, culturally it’s totally different to say, Thailand or Indonesia. “It’s a safe, clean, family-friendly country and the people are incredibly polite,” he says. Belgium-born De Weerd is also the operations manager for 9 Accor Hotels in Japan that include 6 Mercures, 2 Novotels and 1 Ibis from Sapparo in the north to the new Mercure in Okinawa in the south. “All of our staff are multi-lingual, and we try to be different. For example, Japan is a male-dominated country, and I don’t know of a hotel in the country that has a female as General Manager, but our GM at the new Okinawa property is a woman and an excellent hotelier, as you’ll find out when you visit there tomorrow,” he added One thing Aussies will love is there is no tipping in Japan, it’s not part of the culture. When TD tried to tip a waiter in a restaurant, the manager handed it back. Pictured from left are: Eric D’igmazio, Sales & Marketing Manager Japan – Accor Pieter De Weerd, GM Mercure Ginza |
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