During October 2015, Vice Deputy Mayor of Sendai, Yukimoto Ito, made a courtesy call to Thailand to request the return of regular flight services to Sendai Airport. Sendai is the largest city in the Tohoku region. The airport hosted a direct flight to Thailand from December 2013 until March 2014 when it was abruptly halted because of anti-government demonstrations in Thailand. As the situation has normalized and there are already direct flights to and from Thailand in other parts of Japan, the service returning to Sendai looks promising.
In 2010, one year before the Great East Japan Earthquake, there were 3,563 Thai tourists staying overnight in Sendai. Last year in 2014, there were 4,105. To further welcome Thai tourists, the Sendai City and Tohoku Promotion Divisions, along with the Sendai City International Association, have started collaborative marketing and incentive programs. More and more Tohoku information is being translated into Thai on the web and in print. Future incentives will likely include free overnight accommodation for tourists from Thailand.
Source: Kahoku Shinpo
