TOKYO REPORT: Local Tourism Promotion Paying Off

May 29, 2018

Tokyo- Focused local efforts to attract tourists from abroad are paying off amid record-breaking arrivals in Japan.

Three mountainous areas in Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, known for steep gorges and hot springs, have enjoyed a steep increase in the number of tourists from overseas, especially Hong Kong, over the past decade.

The total number of overnight foreign guests at five lodging facilities in Iya and Oboke/Koboke areas exceeded 10,000 in 2017, compared with 42 in 2007, after tourism promotion efforts by Miyoshi municipal government to lure visitors from Hong Kong. Chartered flights between Hong Kong and Tokushima Awaodori Airport started in 2012.

Natural landscapes in the areas "should be attractive to people in Hong Kong, which is a forest of skyscrapers," a tourism official at the city office said. The scarcity of local buses and cabs prompts visitors to rent vehicles and enjoy their own tours, the official added.

In Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, which includes Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site, a public-private organization called Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau has been established to attract tourists from abroad. A Canadian man who has taught English at local elementary and junior high schools has been hired as a staff member, in order to reflect a foreigner's perspective in its activities.

The bureau targets tourism promotion efforts at Americans, Europeans and Australians, after the Canadian's advice that they may be more receptive than Asians to Kumano's spiritual culture, coexistence with religions and natural beauty.

As part of its tourism promotion, the bureau has invited journalists from abroad and made related information available in six languages through a website and pamphlets. It also accepts hotel and other reservations online in Japanese and English.

In response to concerns among local business operators over language barriers and cancellations, advance credit card payments are the only option.

To ease concerns for foreign visitors, the bureau responds to contacts around the clock on inquiries about local hospitals in the event of injuries or illnesses.

The number of foreign tourists staying in Tanabe overnight or longer jumped to 30,958 in 2016 from 1,217 in 2011, thanks to the bureau's efforts.

"The promotion of local development is our primary purpose," Masanori Ogawa, secretary-general of the bureau, said. "We try to offer highly satisfactory services rather than make greater profit from larger numbers of customers."

Keijiro Sawano, a 46-year-old resident of Tokyo, has launched a "Heartland Japan" tour project to take affluent visitors from the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand to farming and fishing villages in Aomori, Mie, Yamaguchi, Shimane and Kumamoto prefectures, offering them opportunities to experience rustic life.

"I want foreign tourists to know what Japan is really like by experiencing rural life," Sawano said.

"There are national differences in the destinations that foreign tourists want to visit in Japan," said Hideki Furuya, professor at the Faculty of International Tourism Management of Toyo University.

"It's important to understand trends among foreign tourists and focus on specific aspects of local attractions accordingly," he said. Jiji Press