The northern Kyushu region of southwestern Japan, where people are struggling to restore lives following recent torrential rains, now faces another problem -- a growing number of trip cancellations to the area.

Tourists appear to be shying away from famous resorts near the disaster-hit areas, such as the hot spring resorts of Beppu and Yufuin in Oita Prefecture and Kurokawa hot spring in Kumamoto Prefecture.

A senior official of the tourist hotel cooperative association at Kurokawa hot spring said by last Sunday, more than 200 reservations had been cancelled since July 5 when the torrential rain that devastated Fukuoka and Oita prefectures began.

That hot spring resort in Kumamoto was also hit hard by powerful earthquakes in April last year, with the number of lodgers roughly halving.

Last week's downpour came as Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, along with Kyushu Railway Co., had started a campaign to promote tourism to the region this summer.

The situation appears even more severe in areas hit hardest by the heavy rain.

In Asakura, where more than 20 people lost their lives and 11 remain unaccounted for, 5,745 people had cancelled reservations as of Tuesday, according to a local hotel association.

Source: ANNnewsCH