Peel businesses have welcomed the announcement of direct flights between Tokyo-Perth.
In anticipation for the influx of north Asian tourists, Mandurah Cruises have employed Japanese speaking guide in anticipation.
Mandurah Cruises co-owner Myrianthe Riddy said the new guide, Kiyomie Guchi, would host her initial tour on February 18 and it would be the first of many to come.
Ms Riddy said when the plan to link Perth to Tokyo was first announced at the end of 2018, the local business decided to start the process of finding someone who could cater for the new markets needs.
It's really pleasing to see local operators getting on the front foot and preparing for the increase, such as Mandurah Cruises employing a Japanese speaking guide.
- Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation acting chief executive office Anita Kane.
“Mandurah is popular and is becoming increasing popular within the Asian market for seafood tourism experiences,” she said.
“We’ve already been marketing heavily to Japanese tourism operators.”
Ms Riddy said the company was in the process of including Japanese language settings on their website and that Ms Guchi had already help her translate their content.
Mandurah Cruises can already cater for several language needs, including French, German, Chinese, Mandarin, Indonesia, Malaysian.
Sales for the daily-direct flights, hosted by All Nippon Airways (ANA), launched on February 7 at 2pm.
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The airline will operate daily services on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which has a total of 184 seats including 32 business class seats, 14 premium economy seats and 138 economy seats.
The introduction of the new service makes Perth only the second Australian city served by ANA, showing the airline's commitment to the Western Australian tourism industry.
Flights, commencing from September 1, will depart Tokyo at 11am and arrive in Perth at 8.15pm.
The aircraft will then depart from Perth at 9.45pm, to arrive in Tokyo at 8.25am the next morning.
Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation acting chief executive office Anita Kane said the announcement was great news for tourism in the region.
“These direct flights will make Perth a much more attractive destination for Japanese visitors and, with Mandurah just an hour away, I fully expect many of them to include us in their visit.
“MAPTO is attending Australia’s biggest tourism trade event, Australian Tourism Exchange, later this year where we will be marketing our region to Japanese travel agents and journalists, letting them know about all of the fantastic things there are to do and see in the Peel Region.
“It's really pleasing to see local operators getting on the front foot and preparing for the increase, such as Mandurah Cruises employing a Japanese speaking guide.”
Mandurah is popular and is becoming increasing popular within the Asian market for seafood tourism experiences. We’ve already been marketing heavily to Japanese tourism operators.
- Mandurah Cruises co-owner Myrianthe Riddy.
Return ticket prices between Tokyo and Perth start from $861 for economy, $1,561 for premium economy and $3,521 for business class, inclusive of taxes.
There is no extra charge, aside from the local tax, to connect to Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya.
Premier Mark McGowan welcomed to launch of the sales.
"Boosting WA tourism to create more jobs and grow the local economy is a key priority for my Government, and these direct flights will help us achieve this,” Premier McGowan said.
"I have recently returned from a visit to Japan to promote this new Tokyo-Perth route, and met with the President and CEO of All Nippon Airways to personally thank him for ANA's co-operation and commitment to this new service.
“I look forward to working with ANA on more opportunities to promote Western Australia as a key tourism destination to visit."
Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said the direct service made it easier to travel between Tokyo and Perth, and would be extremely attractive for Japanese tourists.
"Flights start in September which coincides with the start of the wildflower season in Western Australia, which is a popular sightseeing activity for Japanese visitors,” Mr Papalia said.
"While we anticipate this route will see about 76,000 new visitors fly into Perth over the next three years there will also be significant flow-on effects for other tourist hotspots across the State, including in many regional areas.
"New direct aviation access like this is absolutely critical to unlocking the tourism potential of Western Australia and is a major focus of the state government's Two-Year Action Plan."
For more information on the new local service visit the Mandurah Cruises website.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul.
