Okinawa Eyes New Convention Centre

April 7, 2014

Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture is planning for a new convention venue capable of hosting large-scale events of up to 20,000 people. According to the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB), discussions and research for a suitable location is currently underway with a final decision expected sometime next year.

Parties involved with discussions are reportedly favouring locations near to the prefecture capital’s Naha Airport, hotels, and other key attractions. Currently, the largest convention centre in the prefecture is the Okinawa Convention Center, which offers a maximum seating capacity of 5,000.

According to the OCVB, the island’s major source market is mainland Japan with the overseas market consisting of Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and South Korea.

The Okinawa Prefecture recently signed an MoU with Singapore’s Changi Airport to enhance direct air connectivity between the two destinations.

Koji Niimoto, supervisor for MICE marketing at OCVB, commented, “Okinawa is looking to expand its MICE business from overseas source markets, hence efforts are ongoing to increase capacity in terms of MICE venues. While other destinations also offer beautiful oceans and nature like Okinawa does, we have our own unique culture that is different from that of mainland Japan.”

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