Compensation for damages to tourism

6 more prefectures named in nuke crisis compensation standards for tourism industry

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120828p2a00m0na003000c.html

Six new prefectures have been named in compensation standards to cover financial damage caused to the tourism industry by radiation fears stemming from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government announced on Aug. 27.

The compensation standards for the tourism industry in six prefectures -- Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Iwate, Miyagi and Chiba -- were unveiled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's center for resolving nuclear disaster compensation disputes, which steps in when a compensation claimant and Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) can't agree on a damages amount.

Under the previous standards, tourism businesses in Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures could make compensation claims for revenues lost due to plunging visitor numbers in the wake of the Fukushima plant meltdowns. The rules allowed businesses in other areas to make compensation demands, but regional governments and business groups had called for the official list of eligible prefectures to be expanded.

According to the compensation dispute center, the expansion of the compensation area came after some 30 damages claims were filed by those in the tourism industry in the six newly designated prefectures, confirming that radiation fears were indeed keeping tourists away. The center also noted that negotiated settlements between TEPCO and claimants may not strictly abide by the 70 percent compensation standard.

Group tour operators hard-hit by a sharp drop in school excursions and other children's group travel, meanwhile, can claim up to 100 percent of lost revenues, because the drop-off in this sector is thought to stem from parents' concerns over children's susceptibility to radiation exposure.