And “Free Public Wi-Fi Service”
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
August 21, 2013 Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., Ltd. To media organizations Presenting a more pleasant shopping environment for overseas visitors at Gotemba and Rinku Premium Outlets® New “Silence Rooms” for worship and meditation and “Free Public Wi-Fi Service” And announcing the “Welcome to Premium Outlets® Campaign” to begin on Tuesday, October 1, at Gotemba, Shisui, Rinku, and Tosu Premium Outlets® Premium Outlets® (Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., Ltd.; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Takuro Yamanaka) is introducing the following new services at some outlet centers which have a particularly large number of overseas visitors, to create an even more welcoming environment. These new services are designed to enhance the outlet shopping experience of overseas visitors, whose numbers are growing year by year. New environment/service Outlet center Launch date Gotemba August 16 (Fri) Establishment of a “Silence Room” for worship and meditation Rinku October 1 (Tue) Gotemba Mid-September Free public Wi-Fi service in designated areas Rinku Mid-September Information desk providing service in English and Chinese Rinku October 1 (Tue) Call Center shopping support in English, Chinese, Korean, and Gotemba October 1 (Tue) to March Thai 31 (Mon) *For a limited time only Thai-language website All centers September 3 (Tue) Additionally, the “Welcome to Premium Outlets® Campaign” for overseas visitors will be held at participating outlet centers between October 1 (Tue), 2013, and March 31 (Mon), 2014. During this time, “Special Coupons” will be presented for even greater discounts over already low outlet prices for certain brands featured at the centers. Premium Outlets® centers are “village-style” outlet facilities that originated in the United States. The first to open in Japan was Gotemba Premium Outlets®, which opened in 2000. A business model shared among Premium Outlets® centers around the world involves the development of centers at certain distances from urban areas. Because this generates high compatibility with tourism, centers have engaged in strategic activities designed to attract not only domestic but also overseas visitors. At present, there are nine Premium Outlets® centers operating in Japan. Three are located along “golden routes” that are popular with overseas tour groups. These are the Gotemba Premium Outlets® (Shizuoka Prefecture), which offers views of Mt Fuji (a World Heritage Site); Rinku Premium Outlets® (Osaka Prefecture), which is located across on the water from Kansai Airport; and Shisui Premium Outlets® (Chiba Prefecture), which is near Narita Airport. Another popular center is Tosu Premium Outlets® (Saga Prefecture) in Kyushu, which is near major urban areas of Asia. These four centers combined with the other Premium Outlets® centers attract some 225,000 overseas visitors each year (total of all centers from January to December, 2012; excludes individual tourists). It deserves noting that the number of visitors from Southeast Asia is growing rapidly this year, as approximately 42,000 visitors have come from Thailand and 15,000 from Indonesia (totals of all centers from January to June, 2013; excludes individual tourists). When compared with numbers of visitors to Japan announced by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), these figures indicate that approximate 1 in 4.8 Thai visitors and 1 in 4.3 Indonesian visitors to Japan visited a Premium Outlets® center during this period. Premium Outlets® will continue to improve its services to meet the needs of various customers. 1. Outline of new welcoming environments and services ■ Establishment of “Silence Rooms” for worship and meditation Centers Gotemba and Rinku Premium Outlets® Launch date Gotemba: August 16 (Fri) Rinku: October 1 (Tue) Usage Gotemba: Available for use without reservation during business hours Rinku: Available for use after applying at the information desk The Silence Room at ® Gotemba Premium Outlets ■ Free public Wi-Fi service in designated areas Centers Gotemba and Rinku Premium Outlets® Launch date Gotemba and Rinku: Mid-September Service FREESPOT http://www.freespot.com/ Area of service Gotemba: Rest area next to Gap (West Zone) availability Rinku: Food Alley (Sea Side Area food court) General Service may be used free of charge in the designated area for six months after description E-mail authentication. (Japanese, English) *Service may be used free of charge for 10 minutes without E-mail authentication. *Service is also available to citizens and residents of Japan. ■ Information desk providing service in English and Chinese Center Rinku Premium Outlets® Launch date October 1 (Tue) General Staff members capable of providing assistance in English and Chinese are description permanently stationed in the Information Center. ■ Call Center shopping support Center Gotemba Premium Outlets® Period of October 1 (Tue) to March 31 (Mon), 2014 *For a limited time only availability General Interpretation in English, Chinese, Korean, and Thai will be provided through the description Call Center. 2. Outline of the “Welcome to Premium Outlets® Campaign” Participating Gotemba, Shisui, Rinku, and Tosu Premium Outlets® centers Period October 1, 2013 (Tue) to March 31, 2014 (Mon) General During this time, “Special Coupons” will be presented to overseas visitors. description These coupons will give even greater discounts over outlet prices for certain featured brands. How to obtain Individual tourists : Visitors should show the “Campaign Screen” of the Premium the Special Outlets® website to the information center. Coupons Group tourists (Gotemba and Rinku) Coupons will be sent to the visit organizer by post in advance after the organizer makes a prior reservation via the “Book a Group Tour” page on one of the Premium Outlets® foreign language websites. Group tourists (Shisui and Tosu) Coupons will be presented to visitors at the information center on the day of their visit if the visit organizer has made a prior reservation via the “Book a Group Tour” page on one of the Premium Outlets® foreign language websites. 3. Major welcoming environments and services for overseas visitors that are already provided Type Environment/service already provided Outlet center Language Websites in English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), and Korean All centers Floor guides in English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), and All centers Korean Floor guide in Thai Gotemba Information desk offering assistance in English and Chinese Shisui Standardized announcements in English and Chinese *Korean Gotemba, Rinku, announcements also made at Shisui. Shisui Use of “point and communicate” materials in English, Chinese All centers (traditional and simplified), and Korean Full introduction of China Union Pay card terminals in all stores Shisui, Rinku Member store agreements with Discover Card All centers Payment/settlement Available at some Duty-free purchases store tenants Foreign currency exchange counter Shisui Free public Wi-Fi service in designated areas Shisui On-premise environment Separate room for groups in the food court *Advanced reservation Shisui required Employee Gotemba, Rinku, Training on service for foreign customers education Shisui Provision of flight information for Narita International Airport and Shisui (Narita), Information Kansai International Airport Rinku (Kansai) Local buses to Narita International Airport and Kansai International Shisui (Narita), Access Airport Rinku (Kansai) About Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., Ltd., is a joint company formed by two companies: Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., and Simon Property Group, Inc. Its main business activities involve development, ownership, and operation of Premium Outlets® centers in Japan. It currently operates Premium Outlets® centers in nine locations in Japan. “Premium Outlet Shopping®” and “Premium Outlets®” are trademarks of the Simon Property Group, Inc. Gotemba Premium Outlets® Rinku Premium Outlets® Gotemba-shi, Shizuoka 210 stores Izumisano-shi, Osaka 210 Stores The Premium Outlets® flagship center offers Located in Rinku Town, across the water from views of Mt. Fuji (a World Heritage Site). It is Kansai International Airport. Easily accessible on the largest outlet center throughout Japan. foot from a nearby train station. Shuttle bus service to and from Kansai International Airport. Shisui Premium Outlets® Tosu Premium Outlets® Shisui-cho, Chiba 120 stores Tosu-shi, Saga 150 stores The newest Premium Outlets® center, located Kyushu’s largest outlet center, with access to near Narita International Airport and easily Fukuoka Airport (approx. 30 minutes), Hakata Port accessible from the Tokyo city center. Serviced (50 minutes), and Fukuoka Tenjin (40 minutes). by local buses to and from Narita International Airport. In addition to the above centers, Mitsubishi Estate-Simon operates Sano Premium Outlets® (Tochigi Prefecture), Ami Premium Outlets® (Ibaraki Prefecture), Kobe-Sanda Premium Outlets® (Hyogo Prefecture), Toki Premium Outlets® (Gifu Prefecture), and Sendai-Izumi Premium Outlets® (Miyagi Prefecture). For inquiries concerning this press release, please contact: Marketing Department, Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., Ltd. Attn.: Kato, Kotake Email: [email protected] , [email protected] Official website: http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/ .