The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has confirmed that a substantial part of the 12th WTTC Global Summit will be held in Sendai, north east Japan. It was previously announced in November that the summit would be held in Tokyo from April16 to 19, 2012. However, just one week after the Host Committee for the summit had its first meeting, the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The global summit will be held in Tokyo with over 1000 participants expected to attend.
WTTC and the Host Committee have also agreed that the WTTC Annual General Meeting and Executive Committee Meeting will be held in Sendai on April 17, 2012 together with an additional congress in Sendai focusing specifically on the recovery of Japan’s tourism industry, risk management and crisis response. It is expected that some 400 delegates will attend the Sendai event – many will be international participants, especially from Asia.
David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC, said, “The recovery of Japan is one of the most compelling issues facing global travel and tourism. I’m delighted that we will be able to bring the industry’s leaders to Sendai during the summit week in 2012 as it sends a clear message about our commitment to show that Japan in general and the Tohoku region in particular have recovered from the tsunami and earthquake and are ready to rediscover their position among the world’s premier tourism destinations.”