Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
How does one even begin to digest, or describe, the tragedy of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan?
Even to a world that has grown all too used to disaster on a grand scale, the magnitude of this still evolving catastrophe defies belief.
Whole communities have been virtually wiped out, destruction and death has happened to an almost unfathomable degree, and the country is teetering on the brink of nuclear disaster.
While the rest of the world looks on impotently, the people of Japan somehow have to get on with the rescue and relief effort, long before any restoration initiatives start. The latter will take years, perhaps decades, even for one of the most resilient people on the planet.
It is a time to dwell on human tragedy, not commerce, but inevitably our own travel retail community, as with all relevant business sectors, will begin to assess the implications. Leisure travel into and out of Japan will inevitably, and rightly, be hit hard for a long time to come. But that cost to our industry will pale forever in comparison to the suffering of the people of Japan, with whom the world stands as one in sympathy.