As this region's tourism industry continues to grow, it is important that Buffalo do all that it can to attract people from both near and far in as many different ways possible. Sometimes that means stepping out of our comfort zone in order to do so. If you consider the English language a comfort zone, as so many of us do, then how do we attract foreign-speaking people who can't read the words that we are using to promote our city?
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Buffalonian Atsuko Nishida-Mitchell has the answer to that question. She has been working on a project that is designed to translate much of what we take for granted into Japanese - her native tongue. Although the website is not 100% complete, the effort that is underway is commendable and should be replicated on other fronts. After all, the easier we make it for foreign tourists to visit Buffalo, the more they will divert from trips to say, Niagara Falls or Toronto. In fact, there are plenty of Japanese-Americans who would probably appreciate the effort and visit due to the welcoming nature of the effort.
Nice to see some effort going in to global tourism. Now maybe we can have the Buffalo Niagara "International" Airport seeing some international flights...