Vancouver Café Opens in Tokyo

The newly opened Vancouver Café is a three month promotion designed to generate post- Olympic visitation to British Columbia. In partnership with Air Canada, Tourism British Columbia built an internet café in a highly desirable location in Lazona Kawasaki Plaza, a huge shopping centre in Metropolitan Tokyo. The cafe is located in the Travel Plaza adjoined by a travel goods supplier and three key retail travel agencies. In the cafe are a variety of promotional items including posters, videos, travel brochures, copies of recent magazine coverage of British Columbia and special menu featuring Vancouver style food.

Vancouver Café will be a lively spot over the next three months with special promotions and events including:

• Marathon coach and advisor, Mr. Tetsuhiko Kin who will introduce the upcoming Vancouver International Marathon and provide advice and stories about his experiences.
• Celebrity travel and lifestyle writer Ms. Yoko Kirishima who will discuss BC lifestyle and introduce a special edition of Mainichi-ga-Hakken magazine, in which her Vancouver home and lifestyle are featured. The magazine will be on sale at the Vancouver Café.
• Ms. Seiko Tanishima, cooking and cuisine specialist and huge BC fan will also make an appearance. Ms. Tanishima visited BC last summer on a magazine shoot and will talk about food and a natural organic BC diet.

Vancouver Café expects to serve more than 30,000 customers during the promotional period and integrated online, travel trade and public relations events will provide extensive media coverage. "The opening of Vancouver Café in Tokyo is perfect timing with the 2010 Winter Games," said Cindy Gobin, Marketing Development Manager, Asia, Tourism BC. "It enables us to capture the excitement of British Columbia in Japan as they cheer on their athletes competing in the Games."

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