It was good to see so many of them at the Australian Tourism Exchange in Sydney (pictured is the opening lunch) and the ones I talked to seemed determined to get on with business although one sensed a certain anxiety among them as to the future.

“It is good to be here,” said one of the journalists in my group, as we were walking towards King Street Wharf to board a water taxi.

It was a perfect autumn evening in Sydney – the sun was just setting, casting its golden rays on the blue ocean dotted with yachts and sailing boats.

“We had to fly to Hong Kong first because there are no direct flights anymore from Tokyo,” she said, shaking her head. “But at least they didn’t measure us for radiation.”

She added, “It’s been very difficult at home”, and then she laughed, “Actually, Japanese should travel now – there’s no work to do at home.” I like her sense of humour.

Truth is, outbound travel has dropped by between 50% and 70%, depending who you speak to. “People feel they shouldn’t travel because of what happened,” another Japanese journalist who works in one of the biggest travel trade publications said. “I suppose that’s so Japanese.”

Their bigger worry is over inbound which he told me has dropped by almost 90%. “Actually the western part of the country is safe but I guess people are worried because of the radiation,” he said.

“Anyway we Japanese should understand this more than anyone else,” he smiled. “We are the first to cancel when there are any problems. Remember H1N1?” I like his sense of humour too.

The difference is, how long will this take to recover? Talking to several in the delegation, they are hoping that Golden Week in May will mark the start of the rebound in outbound travel. 

The bigger question is over inbound and what needs to be done to start promoting travel to Japan again. On the show floor, there was talk of big pieces of businesses being diverted to Australia from Japan. A Thai travel agent told me she also cancelled her family holiday to Japan and instead was taking it in Australia. In any crisis, there are winners and there are losers.

Tourism Australia’s managing director Andrew McEvoy made it a point publicly to welcome the Japanese delegation. He said that Japan remained a key market for the country and added it would commence promotions “when the time is right”.

Talking to many people in the travel industry in Asia weeks after the quake and tsunami, I sense many are keen to help and show support for their Japanese friends in some shape or form but again, it’s a question of how and when. It’s a delicate matter in life with friends – do you help only when you are asked or do you reach out before help is asked for? 

I told my newly-made Japanese media friend about a website that some travel industry friends have started – www.japantastic.org – to allow people to share what they love about Japan and asked him to tell his friends about it.

“That’s so nice,” he said, bowing. “Thank you.”

Humour and graciouness – now that’s the spirit especially in crisis. 

Dare I say, this crisis has once again shown that bad times do bring people together and that it also enables us to be more open than traditions usually allow us to be.