During November Niantic held a special Pokémon GO event in Japan's Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture - all areas impacted by the 2011 Tsunami.
The intention was to generate interest with players and give the tourist industry in this struggling region a much-needed boost; the achieve this, Niantic made the area a spawning ground for the elusive monster Lapras - the same rare beast which caused chaos on the streets of Tokyo in September.
The plan worked brilliantly, and it is now being reported that 100,000 tourists visited the region generating approximately ¥2 billion (around $17 million) in tourism revenue.
Niantic will have made a packet on this event as well, of course - no doubt many of those tourists will have bought items in-game with real money to ensure they bagged as many 'mon as possible during their stay in the area - but that doesn't detract from the fact that this has given the region a boost. It will be interesting to see if Niantic chooses to perform the same trick in other areas of the world impacted by recent hardships.
[source japanesenintendo.com, via forbes.com]
Comments 14
Hmm, the UK could do with a good tourism boost pretty soon...
Lapras...!
That is pretty awesome, actually. Good on them.
On a side note, the company tie-ins like Starbucks and Sprint in the US are only going to make it better for players as there is less incentive to milk them for cash directly.
I really hope they just donate a huge amount to this region and rebuilding and recovery efforts. I'm a terribly struggling DJ / musician in Western Australia and managed to raise $2,400AUD from throwing a gig here and it was so warmly received by the Red Cross
Erm sorry did I read that right... they had a PKMN GO event in Fukushima?
@Kit About 90% of Fukushima was unaffected by the radiation leak but tourists were shunning the whole area. Niantic worked with the four prefectures listed above to try and draw people back into the areas. It makes sense really.
@Rexx So are you a terrible... struggling DJ or a terrible struggling... DJ?
I'm glad Niantic can direct tourism like that, just don't cause a mass stampede. I hope Niantic donated some money themselves. No doubt a lot of IAPs went to the capture of so many Lapras.
How cool! I lived in Miyagi prefecture for a long time but luckily was not there when the tsunami struck.
@gizmoto Just out of curiosity what exactly is your profile picture?
@JubilifeRival @gizmoto It's a mixture of game announcements and Vince McMahon's reactions to Trish Stratus stripping. IIRC, it wasn't exactly an amicable arrangement, and means of recompense for 'wronging' Vinnie Mac at some point.
I miss the Attitude era.
@gizmoto NP
@Iggy-Koopa Oh okay. I wasn't sure if there was any significance to him not smiling as much when FE Fates and Bravely Second were announced.
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