Cebu Pacific Helping to Boost Japan's Visitor Arrivals

Figures from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) show that the Philippines is one of its fastest growing source of foreign visitor arrivals.

Philippine visitor arrivals to Japan grew by 129.5% in April 2014, compared to March 2014, and in May, Philippine visitor arrivals grew by 71.5%.

For the month of April, visitors from the Philippines grew the most, topping even China. This was a month after Cebu Pacific launched direct daily services to Tokyo (Narita) and four weekly services to Nagoya. Cebu Pacific also operates daily services to Osaka.

Japan is aiming to increase the number of foreign visitors to 20 million in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"With Cebu Pacific's new Japan destinations and trademark low fares, those who have always been interested in traveling to Japan now find themselves able to do so. This amazing growth in Filipino tourist arrivals to Japan is what we call the Cebu Pacific effect. We hope we can continue stimulating traffic not just to Japan, but to the Philippines as well," said Cebu Pacific VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog.

Cebu Pacific flew over 45,800 passengers to and from Japan for the months of April and May 2014, considered the Philippines' summer and Japan's spring months. This translated to a growth of over 480%, compared to the same period last year.

Lowest year-round fares to Osaka start at P3,999. Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific fares to Nagoya and Tokyo start at P5,499.

Aside from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Cebu Pacific offers flights to 23 other international destinations, namely Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei, Busan, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Incheon (Seoul), Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Macau, Phuket, Shanghai, Siem Reap, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Xiamen. It also operates an extensive network in the Philippines with destinations such as Boracay, Palawan and Coron.

Cebu Pacific's 50-strong fleet is comprised of 10 Airbus A319, 28 Airbus A320, 4 Airbus A330 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft. Between 2014 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of 11 more brand-new Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo, and 2 Airbus A330 aircraft.