Japan¡¯s Foreign Ministry has invited prominent bloggers and twitterers from across the globe to areas affected by last year's earthquake and tsunami in the hope of further boosting travel to the region.

Guests have been asked to write about, and broadcast, the progress that has been made in the reconstruction of the communities in the area and to show that the region remains a beautiful holiday destination, Mainichi Japan reported.

Spanish blogger Roger Ortuno Flamerich was the first to arrive, in December, followed by Chicago food-blogger Louise Liu Chu and Muslim Brotherhood editor-in-chief Khaled Hamza, from Egypt, who arrived on January 31.

Two influential twitterers, a Chilean university professor and a Chinese children's storywriter, will visit this month.

Investing 21.5 million yen (US$280,000) in the project through March this year, the Ministry aims to invite at least ten social media authorities to the country.

The plan was approved after an earlier scheme to give away 10,000 round-trip tickets to Japan failed to gain government support.