P.E.I. tourism industry hopes new animated Anne series will bring back Japanese visitors
'We need new readers, younger readers and such a beautiful story, so hopefully it's gonna be huge'
The number of Japanese visitors to P.E.I. has never returned to the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, but some tourism operators hope a new animated series about Anne of Green Gables — and the attention it's getting in Japan — will help.
The new Anne Shirley anime series continues the story beyond Anne of Green Gables, into the next two books in the series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It begins airing in April on the NHK network.
"A lot of travel agent is doing a promotion tying up with the this new anime series," said Katsue Masuda, who has guided Japanese visitors on the Island for decades with P.E.I. Select Tours. "So hopefully we have more Japanese tourist this year."
Chie Miyamoto visited Green Gables Heritage Place during a brief visit to the Island in early February. Masuda helped translate her comments from Japanese.
"When her daughter was little, she bought at Anne of Green Gables book for her. So she's glad to see more people will see the Anne of Green Gables," Masuda translated.
"She told her friends she's coming to P.E.I. and see Anne of Green Gables, and a lot of her friends envy her ... Maybe with this new animation series, and maybe more interest, they would love to come to see Anne of Green Gables in person."
Bestseller in Japan
Anne of Green Gables was first translated into Japanese and published in Japan in 1952. It went on to become a bestseller, and a 1979 animated version of Anne was also very popular.
"It was a big impact for children in Japan," Masuda said. "And so still we have lots of customers that they grew up with that anime series."
Prince Edward Island was for many decades a popular destination for Japanese visitors. Tourism P.E.I. reports Japan is second only to the U.S. for international visitors to the Island.
The numbers started to decline in 2014, and Tourism P.E.I. launched several campaigns in the hopes of attracting more Japanese visitors, including one connected to a television series about Hanako Muraoka, who translated Anne.
But it's been especially tough for companies that specialize in travellers from Japan since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The last five years it was very, very low and last year, some came back maybe still 30 percent of 2019," Masuda said. "So it was not really great. So this year, hopefully we can get a little bit more people."
'Hopefully it's gonna be huge'
The Island's tourism industry is also hoping the animated series will give Japanese numbers a boost.
"Traditionally, the Japanese market was really, really strong ... We haven't quite seen that rebound post pandemic, but certainly an important market for us," said Corryn Clemence with the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island.
Canadian tourism officials are predicting that spending by Japanese travellers will rebound in 2025, reaching above 2019 levels, and that visitation will have fully recovered by 2026.
In a statement, Tourism P.E.I. said Anne of Green Gables is a key piece of the Island's overall tourism draw, and it's hoped the new series helps create more awareness of P.E.I. as a travel destination.
Clemence, for one, will be watching to see how the series impacts tourism.
It'll be certainly interesting to hear from Parks Canada and some of our Green Gables operators if they're getting some inquiries and some interest—Corryn Clemence, Tourism Industry Association of PEI
"I'll be reaching out to our tourism department to see if they're seeing any spikes in visitation for online visits to the website, kind of those kind of traffic indicators," Clemence said.
"It'll be certainly interesting to hear from Parks Canada and some of our Green Gables operators if they're getting some inquiries and some interest. We'd love to see that market grow."
The company making the show is planning a series of events featuring the cast, as well as promotions in bookstores, to help build up buzz before the debut in April.And P.E.I. tourism officials hope that buzz will have a ripple effect in Prince Edward Island.
"Anne of Green Gables is always loved by a lot of Japanese people and the first anime series was a big success and this one will be bigger, I hope," Masuda said.
"We need new readers, younger readers and such a beautiful story, so hopefully it's gonna be huge."
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