2011-01-28

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2011-01-28
Mori Building Co., Ltd.

Strengthening Service for Asians and Other Foreigners Visiting Japan for the Lunar New Year

Using a Tablet Terminal to Support Conversation and Providing Customer Service
To provide support for inbound travels in the Odaiba, Roppongi, and Omotesando/Harajuku areas

Roppongi Hills, Omotesando Hills, Venus Fort, and Laforet Harajuku operated by Mori Building Co., Ltd., have taken measures to create a receptive environment for foreigners visiting Japan in preparation for the Lunar New Year’s holidays (early February) in anticipation of more visitors from China than in normal years due to the relaxation of restrictions on tourist visas for Chinese travelers and the opening of the International Flight Passenger Terminal at Haneda Airport.

1) Using a tablet terminal to support conversation and providing customer service (Omotesando Hills, Laforet Harajuku)
・NTT DoCoMo tablet terminals “GALAXY Tab” that
*Available in cooperation with JCB to outlets that honor the Ginren Card (Cooperation: NTT DoCoMo)

2) Multi-language call center supports store staff (Omotesando Hills/Laforet Harajuku)
・A multi-language call center (Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean) has been established to support outlets that honor the Ginren Card (January 17 to March 31)
* Available in cooperation with JCB to outlets that honor the Ginren Card

3) Exchange student and working intern system started (Omotesando Hills)
・Customer service will be provided by a concierge counter (each weekend) for exchange students from Mainland China and Taiwan.
*The counter will be staffed each day of the Lunar New Year’s holiday (February 3-7)

4) Attendant crew system that provides more than just information (Venus Fort)
・Foreign attendant crews help foreign visitors to Japan with their shopping at Venus Fort (free of charge).

5) Present passports to receive store discounts (Roppongi Hills)
・Foreigners visiting Japan can present their passports at cooperating stores (81 outlets) to receives discounts of 5% to 10% or a present.

6) Ginren Card payment system implemented in all stores in Omotesando Hills and Laforet HarajukuNote 1
・Honors by 97 stores in Roppongi Hills
・Venus Fort was the first commercial facility to honor the card through gradual acceptance starting in 2005. The card has been honored by all stores since 2009.
(Note 1) Excluding the gallery, convenience stores, and some light eating and drinking establishments, etc.

1 and 2 are being conducted in cooperation with the Visit Japan Tourism Promotion Project led by the Shopping Center Promotion Association Harajuku-Omotesando Keyakikai.

(From left) Omotesando Hills concierge service, Venus Fort Chinese attendant crew,
sign in the building (example), NTT DoCoMo tablet terminal “GALAXY Tab”.

Aiming to Serve Inbound Travelers Utilizing the Features of the Odaiba, Roppongi, and Omotesando/Harajuku Areas

Leveraging the Location of Odaiba 15 min by car from Haneda Airport
・Odaiba is a popular area that was originally part of the current tour courses for travelers from overseas. Group tourists have been common but have been increasing since the opening of the Haneda Airport International Flight Passenger Terminal at the end of October last year. Flights for Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have been added as well as additional flights for South Korea and passengers from these flights are visiting Odaiba and Venus Fort.

Chinese and other foreign visitors to Venus Fort current account for 15% to 20% of the total.
Chinese tourists declined by half after the Senkaku Islands Incident, but their numbers are now recovering again.
We are making the following studies and preparation to target individual travelers from South Korea and Hong Kong
in addition to group travelers.
1) Elevate our relationship with Haneda Airport by strengthen direct access from Haneda to Odaiba, implementing
an information service in Haneda Airport, etc.
2) Collaborate with companies in the Odaiba area to attract inbound travelers to the Odaiba area
(create area maps, conduct destination campaigns, etc.)

Venus Fort Mgr. Satoshi Ishika

Community pulling together to make Omotesando/Harajuku the Symbolic Fashion Area of Tokyo
・The Harajuku-Omotesando areas is especially popular in Japan and abroad among people with high fashion sense, and individual travelers from China are increasing since the relaxation in the granting of individual tourist visas for Chinese.
・The Omotesando-Harajuku area was the first area to take measures to attract inbound travelers. In collaboration with the Shopping Center Promotion Association Harajuku-Omotesando Keyakikai, of which Omotesando Hills and Laforet Harajuku are members, we are making the district foreigner-friendly so that people from around the world can enjoy shopping and walking in the area the same as Japanese customers do and thus make Omotesando-Harajuku, which is also the approach to the Meiji Shrine, the place where leading fashion and Japanese traditional culture merge.

Roppongi - Multi-functional International Cultural Urban Core for Fashion, Art, and Business
・The Roppongi area is where world fashion and culture concentrate and is home to multi-functional Roppongi Hills, which features not only commercial facilities but luxury hotels, an observation deck, and an art museum and thus combines a variety of elements that are widely popular with people from the wealthy class to group tourists.
・Accompanying the “Japan MICE Year 2010” set by the Japan Tourism Agency, Roppongi Hills actively held “MICE” activities that made maximum use of the multi-function, information dissemination capability, and district brand power of Roppongi Hills to support international conferences and events held in Japan to increase the number of tourists visiting Japan and to internationalize and vitalize the district.

Mori Building has studied what is most suitable for the Roppongi, Harajuku-Omotesando, and Odaiba areas and made that the first priority in developing and fostering them. We think this will allow Japanese customers and those visiting Japan from around the world to understand and enjoy the attractiveness of the district, and that through this they will experience the attractiveness of Tokyo.
To accomplish this, we must utilize the features of the district and provide the environment and services to make the district friendly for foreign tourists visiting Japan.
The world’s people, goods, money, wisdom, and information will gather in an attractive city with an open mind. By providing the soft and hard aspects required as a global developer and global standard leader, Mori Building will show the world the attractiveness of Japan from Tokyo to make Japan an attractive country that is open to the world.

Please refer to the PDF file for more information.

Please address inquires regarding this press release to:

Mori Building Co., Ltd. Public Relations

Location Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, P.O.Box 1, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6155, Japan

Tel 03-6406-6606

Fax 03-6406-9306

E-mail koho@mori.co.jp