San Diego is in full flight to develop the region as a leading international travel destination with the launch of Japan Airlines' (JAL) new direct flight starting December 2012 between Tokyo and San Diego. This exciting new international service complements the recent addition of British Airways' (BA) daily nonstop flight between London and San Diego and Volaris Airlines' new daily nonstop flights from Guadalajara and Mexico City to San Diego, which began summer 2011.

"Over the past years, our bureau has worked closely in partnership with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and the World Trade Center San Diego to expand the international service into our destination," stated Joe Terzi, President & CEO of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Key international markets like Japan, the U.K. and Mexico represent an incredible opportunity for the continued growth of our region's tourism industry, and these new flights allow San Diego to become a stronger player in global tourism and business travel," Terzi added.

JAL is slated to begin with four flights per week starting in December 2012, then increase to daily flights beginning in March 2013. The new service will be JAL's first-ever nonstop flight between San Diego and Asia, and the new service will also be the first Dreamliner (Boeing 787-8) to service Southern California.

Japan is San Diego's #2 market for overseas visitors. In 2010, San Diego welcomed 74,000 visitors from Japan, who spent an average of $3,900 per person, per trip, and stayed an average of eight nights.

Tokyo's Narita Airport is a major hub to regions throughout Asia, including China and Korea where the U.S. has seen the fastest, most substantial growth in international travelers - both up 232% and 200%, respectively, in 2011. With the new JAL flight, San Diego is expected to see a marked increase in visitors from Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries.

Launched in June 2011, BA's daily nonstop flight between London's Heathrow Airport and San Diego services the region's #1 market for overseas visitors. The U.K. is San Diego's leading overseas market with 108,000 visitors per year, according to 2010 statistics.

With an 86% load factor in summer 2011, the BA flight quickly proved to be more successful than originally forecasted and opened a major gateway to Europe, providing easy flight connections with other key European markets including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia.

In July 2012, Volaris Airlines began new daily nonstop flights from Guadalajara and Mexico City to San Diego. In 2011, an estimated 316,000 overnight visitors came to San Diego from Mexico.

"San Diego is a world-class international destination, and we are poised to increase our global reach and market share as well as our popularity overseas with these important new gateways into Asia, Europe and Mexico," stated Terzi. "We are extremely enthusiastic about these new flights and look forward to welcoming all of our international visitors to our region," Terzi added.

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