On April 15, JAL announced the 10 new “JAL Hometown Ambassadors” who were appointed in the spring.
JAL Furusato Ambassadors are in charge of the “JAL Furusato Project,” in which flight attendants selected through an in-house recruitment process move to their hometowns to promote initiatives in their respective regions. She is in charge of the “JAL Hometown Project,” which promotes local initiatives in each region.
Twenty-seven have served in this capacity, with 10 continuing to be appointed, and 10 new appointments (20 active). There is also a JAL Furusato Ambassador Global program, in which crew members from overseas bases are appointed, and two have been appointed in the past, and two are currently active. In principle, the term of office is one year, but may be extended if desired.
The 10 new appointees have already arrived sequentially from April 1 in nine regions (Miyagi, Niigata, Aichi, Kagawa, Ehime, Fukuoka (2), Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Amami Oshima), and met for the first time in Tokyo for an orientation.
The company’s recently announced mid-term management plan, Rolling Plan 2024, includes a wide range of initiatives to “strengthen human capital,” with the goal of maximizing individual capabilities by broadening the range of experiences and opportunities for growth beyond departments and affiliations, thereby strengthening the company and organization.
Kaori Nishiharaguchi, Executive Officer, Deputy General Manager of Solution Sales Division and General Manager of Tokyo Branch Office, explained that the JAPAN PROJECT (including the new JAPAN PROJECT), the predecessor of the Furusato Project, “focused on information dissemination” to date. I want you all to solve local issues and needs,” she said.
Through past activities, the expectations of the local community have been raised, and not only information dissemination but also the development of local products and travel products have been carried out. On the other hand, however, “Everyone has a different point of view. We need to think freely without being bound by what we have done in the past. The answer lies in the field.” He expressed hope for the unique perspectives and ideas of the newly appointed staff.
Finally, we interviewed Ms. Edaho Aizawa, in charge of Sendai, Miyagi, and Ms. Hiroko Kanekawa, in charge of Takamatsu, West Japan Branch Office.
Mr. Aizawa, who is a native of Miyagi Prefecture, said that he had a strong impression that “Miyagi is not well known” while working as a cabin crew member. He felt that “Miyagi is not easily chosen as a school excursion destination, and there are not many foreign tourists,” partly because there are no direct flights from Tokyo (Haneda/Narita), and he wanted to “increase the number of JAL fans in Tohoku,” which led him to become a hometown ambassador.
Although not a local of Takamatsu, Mr. Kanekawa says that he “fell in love with Takamatsu after participating in a monitoring tour conducted by his predecessor,” and that he “wanted to take a step further and sit down to work on the Seto Inland Sea area. He says he applied for the job because he “wanted to take a step further and work on the Setouchi area from the ground up.
Travel Watch has been running a series of articles introducing this initiative, “Regional Love: Interview with JAL Hometown Ambassadors and Supporters,” since October 2022, and will have opportunities to feature the activities of the 10 newly appointed ambassadors in the future.
© Source travel watch