LV not highest on visiting list for Japanese

For cultural reasons, Las Vegas has never been high on the to-go list for Japanese tourists.

"Unlike the Chinese, who love gambling, it is not a big draw for the Japanese," said Wayne Tanaka, former honorary consul for Japan in Las Vegas.

Estimates by the U.S. Department of Commerce show that the number of Japanese visitors fell by half during the five years through 2009, the latest year available, to 108,000. This came to less than one-tenth the number from Canada.

Much of the decline came after 2006, when Japan Airlines halted the only nonstop Las Vegas-Japan service. This makes it hard to track tourist flows because people might fly into Los Angeles, then drive here, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

However, Japanese interest has started to rebound because of the entertainment but also as a launching point for sightseeing in the West, said Tanaka Many of the Grand Canyon tour operators market to Japan and other Asian countries.

"The demographic of the Japanese is becoming a little bit older," said Bob Terakawa, supervisor of the JTB International travel agency office in Las Vegas. "They often choose to see the national parks."

According to a study by the consulting firm Applied Analysis, foreign visitors stay longer and spend 60 percent more than domestic counterparts. The study did not track visitors by national origin.

At this point, Terakawa said it was too early to asses how the earthquake might disrupt visitor flow. Flights schedules were disrupted Friday out of the two international Tokyo airports but clients who came Osaka reported no problems.

According to Tanaka, 5,000 natives of Japan live in Las Vegas and perhaps 90,000 more of Japanese ancestry. He fielded calls on Friday from people seeking a way through the disrupted communications lines to the quake area, but emergency lines were still being set up.

Beyond tourism, Las Vegas residents might see effects from the disaster unfolding in the automotive industry.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan will leave import dealers short of some models as Honda, Toyota, Subaru and Nissan announced the shutdown of several plants, an automotive analyst said Friday. Nobody really knows the impact of the disaster yet, said Laurie Harbour, president of the Society of Automotive Analysts and business consultant in Detroit.

"The biggest issue is Japan automakers have shut down plants, so there are certain models only built in Japan that won't be shipped here for a while," she said. "Keep in mind there's vehicles in boats in transit here. The big question is how long will the plants be shut down. Nobody has a crystal ball. I would venture to say next week we'll know a lot more."

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@review journal.com or 702-387-5290. Contact Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.