A day after the announcement that the latest tourism numbers jumped significantly, there’s news that Japan Airlines will cancel its daily flights to the Big Island.Tourism officials are looking at other airlines to fill the gap.
Since 1996, Japan Airlines has provided direct flights daily from Narita to Kona, making it the only airport outside of Honolulu that serves international arrivals. The JAL Flight brought more than 69,000 visitors to the Big Island last year. Starting in October that will stop. JAL is in the middle of a company-wide restructuring and will eliminate 16,500 jobs.

We tried everything to see if we could get them to keep the service but there are also a lot of airlines that are looking at new routes and opportunities which may come into play in this situation as well, said David Uchiyama with the Hawaii Tourism Authority.At the same time, the airline is adding a new route that will fly from the new Haneda Airport to Honolulu. But officials say the cancellation will hurt the economy on the Big Island. So there’s a move to make that county a more attractive destination. Uchiyama says tourism officials are working on improving the experience by looking at educational and cultural tours.

We need to recreate ourselves, we need to emphasize the cultural aspects that we have that differentiate us from other destinations, he said.Uchiyama says the Asia market as a whole has been rising lately. The numbers from Korea have been especially strong. In fact, many visitors from Korea have been travelling on that route that will be cancelled.They’re going from Inchon to Narita, Narita to Kona. So we see a pass through market available to us, said Uchiyama.Visitors from Korea do not need visas, which makes it more attractive for them to designate Hawaii as a place for honeymoons, golf outings, as well as conventions. Uchiyama says tapping into that market could help offset the loss expected in October.