USP
The Japanese archipelago stretches more than 3,000km from north to south, crossing many climate zones. Near its southern extremity, Okinawa boasts subtropical temperatures, balmy weather for most of the year, sandy beaches and clear-blue seas.
As a resort destination it’s hugely popular, but companies from across Asia are attracted for the same reasons.
Add to these the favourable element of Japanese efficiency, and an organisation in the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau that offers a range of programmes to international and domestic clients, and you have a compelling reason to consider the island for future events.
VENUES
Okinawa Convention Center (OCC) – The island’s largest event facility is situated in south-central Ginowan district, beside the sea, close to a sandy beach and surrounded by a green park. Its Exhibition Building can hold over 4,000 delegates and the Theatre Hall caters to 1,800.
Laguna Garden Hotel – Located a five-minute walk from the OCC through the park, this hotel works in close cooperation with the convention facility, providing rooms for delegates and alternative function spaces. It has its own 1,000 sqm banquet hall, as well as two smaller ballrooms and a conference room.
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) – This venue has an auditorium and four seminar rooms on a hillside in the northern Onna district. The auditorium holds up to 496 participants, and the rooms between 65 and 150.
Doubletree by Hilton Naha Shuri Castle – Located on a hill close to the city centre, the hotel features two ballrooms, ten meeting rooms, an outdoor poolside area and the 20th-level Sky View Plaza, boasting space for 150 people.
CONNECTIONS
Naha Airport is the main entry and exit point for Okinawa (though cruise liners also dock in Naha Port), serving 19.7 million passengers in 2016. Domestic flights operate to more than a dozen Japanese cities, while the Yui Rail monorail runs from the airport through Naha city. Easy access to the Okinawa expressway makes travel around the island fast
and efficient.
EXCURSIONS
Ocean Expo Park – This large complex in northern Okinawa on the Motobu Peninsula contains a host of delights, from a tropical arboretum to a native Okinawan village and oceanic culture museum. But the highlight is the Churaumi Aquarium, a world-class facility with a vast main tank containing sharks and rays.
Shurijo Castle – This was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, whose rulers controlled sea trade between Japan, China and Southeast Asia for 500 years. The World Heritage-listed castle complex, in Naha city, is Okinawa’s premier historic attraction.
Mihama American Village – A gaudy but enjoyable slice of Americana in the Chatan resort district, comprising half a dozen blocks with souvenir shops, tropical clothing stores, pizzerias, taco bars and ice-cream parlours.
Kokusai-dori – Naha’s renowned downtown shopping street is the place to go for local handicrafts and Okinawan cuisine. Restaurants put on performances of traditional singing and dancing while you eat shabu-shabu, Okinawan pork and purple sweet potato.
EVENT CREDENTIALS
21st International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics – OIST in April 2015 with 450 delegates.
17th General Assembly, 64th & 65th Council Meetings of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association – held OCC in Nov 2015 with 1,700 attendees.
18th International Congress of Oriental Medicine – OCC in April 2016 with 500 delegates.
22nd International Congress of Zoology – OCC and OIST in Nov 2016 with 1,147 delegates.
