Japan-LV flights called successful for JAL, Northwest

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1998 | 12:02 p.m.

Japan Airlines will add a fourth non-stop flight between Tokyo and Las Vegas early next year, an industry official says.

A travel expert addressing the Governors Conference on Travel and Tourism on Monday disclosed the plan while making the point that Japan hasn't been as damaged by the Asian economic crisis as many think.

Kyosuke Okada is founder of Okada Associates in Tokyo and represents the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Nevada Commission on Tourism in Asia. He was among three speakers who gave their perspectives of Nevada's image overseas.

Okada offered the success of JAL and Northwest Airlines as proof that the Asian flu hasn't crippled Japan. He said JAL has been flying its Tokyo-Las Vegas run at 80 percent of capacity while Northwest has been running at 75 percent. An 80 percent load factor means planes are close to full, since the remaining seats are filled by standby passengers and employees.

The new JAL flight is expected to begin in April, Okada said. The airline has not made an announcement. JAL began Las Vegas service with two flights in October and added a third in November.

In addition to the new flight, Okada said tourism agencies have added personnel in Las Vegas, a Japanese wedding coordinator has begun operations in the city and the unemployment rate has been lower than in other Asian nations.

Okada also showed examples of JAL's $30 million advertising campaign to kick off the Las Vegas service as well as other brochures showing how the state is presented to Japanese tourists.

Joining Okada on the panel were T. Keith Mangum, president and owner of Mangum Management of Germany, the LVCVA's representative on the European continent; and Stella Clery-Ackland, co-founder of Cellet Travel Services in London, the agency's liaison to Great Britain.

Germany has produced fewer tourists in the past few years because of its adoption of East Germany, an 11 percent unemployment rate and a newly elected Socialist government. Mangum also said citizens are nervous about the pending conversion of the European Union's currency. At the beginning of 1999, electronic transactions will be conducted in the Euro with the conversion of the rest of the other national currencies to follow in the future.

Clerey-Ackland said her presence at World Travel Market, a massive trade show conducted in London, has been beneficial to Nevada. She asked that Las Vegas resorts leave a favorable impression with travel agents, tour operators and foreign journalists who will be coming to visit the city when some of the newest resorts are completed next year.