日本南部的旅游公司寄希望于夏季天皇德仁和皇后雅子对受灾最严重的地区的访问，以此推动旅游业的重振。原定于周二访问熊本县的皇室夫妇因天气恶劣而推迟了行程；周三，他们将与那些失去家园和企业的家庭进行交谈。熊本县是7月28日发生的7.1级地震的震中所在地区。
Travel companies in southern Japan are pinning their hopes on a business revival following a planned visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to the areas hardest hit by a major earthquake this summer. The imperial couple, who were scheduled to meet communities in Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, postponed the trip due to poor weather. On Wednesday, they will speak with families currently living in temporary accommodation after losing their homes and businesses.
当地旅游经营者表示，地震后前往九州岛的国内外游客数量急剧下降。尽管有迹象表明国内旅游业正在逐渐复苏，但旅游经营者仍呼吁开展宣传活动，以向游客证明该地区已经安全，可以再次成为旅游目的地。
The prefecture was at the epicentre of the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck Kyushu island on July 28. Local tour operators say that the number of international and domestic visitors to Kyushu fell precipitously following the disaster. While there are signs that domestic tourism is picking up, operators are calling for a campaign to reassure tourists that the region is safe to visit again.
在英国非营利性旅游机构“Michi-no-Eki Aso”工作的奥利弗·理查森（Oliver Richardson）在地震发生时正在熊本市的一家Costco超市内。他说，整个建筑物剧烈摇晃，导致货物堆垛倒塌并堵塞了出口；救援人员花了数小时才将他和数十名顾客救出。
Oliver Richardson, a British national working for the non-profit tourism hub Michi-no-Eki Aso, was inside a Costco outlet in Kumamoto city when the earthquake struck. He said the entire building shook violently, causing pallets of goods to fall and block the exits. It took several hours for emergency services to free Richardson and dozens of other shoppers.
地震还引发了附近Aeon Mall Kumamoto购物中心的燃气爆炸，造成7人死亡。作为长期居住在日本的居民，理查森与当地数千人一样，在灾后三天内无法使用自来水。
Nearby, a gas explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto caused by the quake killed seven people. Richardson, who is a long-term resident of Japan, went without tap water for three days after the disaster, like thousands of others in the area.
地震发生后，高速列车服务立即中断，当地铁路线路严重受损，多座桥梁遭到破坏，该地区近7000名居民被迫撤离。至少有200人受伤，36人死亡。
Bullet train services were halted immediately after the quake, local rail lines were severely disrupted, bridges were damaged and nearly 7,000 people across the region had to be evacuated. At least 200 people were injured and 36 deaths were reported.
理查森认为，这场灾难可能会对熊本县乃至整个九州地区的旅游业造成长期影响：“我们这里通常吸引大量来自台湾的游客，但所有人立刻就取消了航班和酒店预订。”
Richardson said the disaster would likely affect tourism in Kumamoto and the wider Kyushu region for months to come. “Our region typically attracts a lot of tourists from Taiwan, but everybody just immediately cancelled flights and hotels,” he said.
他说，这座城市中那些拥有较古老木结构建筑的地区受灾最为严重。
Areas of the city with older wooden buildings were particularly badly affected, he said.
“那座城堡也再次遭到损坏，这实在令人遗憾——因为他们一直在努力重建2016年大地震中受损的部分，”理查森回忆道，“那次地震后发生了许多强烈的余震。”
“The castle was also damaged again, which is really unfortunate because they have been working on rebuilding sections that were destroyed in the last big quake in 2016,” Richardson said, recalling how powerful aftershocks had followed that earlier earthquake.
“人们对此记忆犹新，他们担心同样的事情会再次发生，因此选择远离灾区。”《每日新闻》9月2日报道称，九州七个县的酒店因游客取消预订而损失了408,500个住宿名额。
“People remember that. They were worried the same thing was going to happen again and they chose to stay away.”On September 2, the Mainichi newspaper reported that hotels across Kyushu’s seven prefectures lost 408,500 booked nights to cancellations.
福岛伊藤（Fuku Ito）是该县旅游推广部门的副主管，她说：“尽管当地没有受到严重破坏，但游客们还是取消了前往 Kagoshima 的旅行计划。”
In neighbouring Kagoshima prefecture, tourists had cancelled visits despite the lack of damage, said Fuku Ito, assistant manager of the prefecture’s tourism promotion division.
“通往 Kagoshima 市的子弹列车服务也被暂停了，这显然给游客们的出行带来了不便；不过许多人取消旅行是因为他们担心还会发生强烈的余震，”伊藤解释道。
“The bullet train link to Kagoshima City was halted, which obviously made it harder for people to visit, but many people cancelled trips because they were worried about the possibility of strong aftershocks,” Ito said.
“我们发布了声明，说明当地几乎没有受到破坏，Kagoshima 是安全的，但人们仍然感到担忧。”Kagoshima 机场每天通常有40个国内航班以及来自香港、台湾、中国大陆和首尔的国际航班。所有航班最初都被暂停了，但后来都恢复了；子弹列车服务也在9月18日重新开通。
“We issued statements saying there was very little damage and that Kagoshima was safe, but people were still concerned.”Kagoshima Airport typically receives 40 domestic flights a day, alongside international services from Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and Seoul. All flights were initially suspended but have since resumed. Bullet trains were similarly reinstated on September 18.
“日本的游客恢复旅行的速度相当快，但外国游客则相对较慢，”伊藤说，“我们希望在新年及春节期间能有更多游客前来。”日本中央政府于8月28日批准了一项针对该地区的援助计划，拨款151亿日元（约合9570万美元）用于补贴九州地区的交通出行费用。
“Japanese [travellers] have been quite quick to come back, but foreign visitors have been slower,” Ito said. “We are hoping that around the New Year and Chinese New Year holidays, more people will come back.”Japan’s central government approved a support package for the region on August 28, allocating 15.1 billion yen (US$95.7 million) to subsidise travel across Kyushu.
从周四起，前往熊本县和鹿儿岛县的游客可以享受住宿费用的60%折扣；前往九州其他五个县的游客则可享受50%的折扣。只要在受灾地区至少停留两晚的旅游套餐，即可享受最高35,000日元（约合222美元）的折扣。
From Thursday, visitors to Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures can take advantage of 60 per cent discounts on accommodation under the scheme, and 50 per cent for the other five prefectures in Kyushu. Package tours with at least two nights in the affected region qualify for discounts of up to 35,000 yen (US$222).
在宣布这一补贴政策时，旅游部长金子康表示：“我们希望人们能前往九州，为受灾地区提供物质上和情感上的支持。”他还提到，地震发生后，许多旅游计划被取消了。
“We hope people will visit Kyushu and provide support to the affected areas, both materially and emotionally,” Tourism Minister Yasushi Kaneko said when announcing the subsidies, noting “a succession of cancellations” following the earthquake.
据九州东南部宫崎县的旅游部门官员冈本聪介绍，该县几乎没有受到地震的影响。
Miyazaki prefecture, in southeastern Kyushu, escaped relatively unscathed, according to Satoshi Okumato of the prefectural tourism department.
冈本聪表示，政府的推广活动已经初见成效，吸引了大量国内游客。他说：“秋天是游览九州的好时节，因为树叶会变色，游客需求也很旺盛。虽然九州其他地区的状况较为严峻，但宫崎县的情况依然稳定。”不过，他补充说，说服国际游客重新前往九州将更加困难。
He said the government’s promotion campaign was already bearing fruit with domestic tourists. “Autumn is a good time to visit Kyushu because the tree leaves are changing colour and we see strong demand once again,” he said. “It has been more difficult in other parts of Kyushu, but nothing has changed in Miyazaki.”However, convincing international travellers to return was going to be more challenging, he added.
“像香港这样的地方从未经历过地震，因此那里的人们并不了解地震的严重性，他们感到非常恐惧，”冈本聪说。“我们理解这一点，正在努力向他们传达‘前往九州是安全的’这一信息。”
“Places like Hong Kong do not have earthquakes, so people there do not understand what it means and they are frightened,” Okumato said. “We understand that and are trying to get the message across that it is safe to visit.”By Julian Ryall