New travel style “mobility tourism” offers means of transportation as attraction

Ensen Marugoto, a joint-stock company between Satoyume and The East Japan Railway Company, has launched a new type of tourism called “mobility tourism.” This project aims to fully utilize tourism resources in Tokyo’s Okutama area.

‘Ensen Marugoto’ incorporates alternative transportation into tourism so that travelers can enjoy various types of mobility such as electric bicyles and electric motorcycles. The environmentally-friendly transportation supports tourists to reach their desired destinations while also experiencing tourism activities upon arrival. These tours are available for a limited time: from October 19 to December 11.

Ensen Marugoto runs an Ensen Marugoto Hotel Project whose concept is to let visitors see the areas and local communities along the JR Ome line. They excel in the field of micro-tourism, especially in building customer service which gives first priority to the local community. Ensen Marugoto will apply its accumulated expertise to promote this mobility tourism project.

A beautiful mountainous range and its issues

The Okutama area, a mountainous range in Tokyo, is famous for its spectacular views and its good access from metropolitan areas. Despite the popularity, there are no convenient means of transportation to get to attractive places dotted in the Okutama area other than by vehicle. Therefore, tourists have to walk or drive to their destinations, which causes heavy traffic and wastes time. Also, tourists consider conventional mobility as time-consuming and costly because they take transportation only as a means to get to the next place.

Considering the disadvantages due to the lack of mobility, Ensen Marugoto offers an experiential tour in which tourists can enjoy alternative means of transportation such as cycling, electric motorcycles and trekking as well as conventional tourist activities (ie. exploring the old town and wasabi farm).

An example tour: Satoyama wasabi tour

9:05 – 9:35 am: Tour participants check in and rent an electric motorcycle at ‘Ensen Marugoto Labo.’ Project members remodeled an unmanned station (“Hatonosu Station”) in order to make it an innovation center for regional revitalization.

10:30 am -: They bike to the meeting point to meet a tour guide there. They then hike to a wasabi farm and experience harvesting and tasting wasabi.

11:30 am – 5:00 pm: Tourists have free time to bike around the area until their check out at ‘Ensen Marugoto Labo.’

For those local governments with limited funds and human resources, the new type of tourism offers a shining example to follow. Letting tourists transport by themselves does not require large-scale construction nor hiring new staff, but merely re-organizing what the community already owns. In that sense, it is sustainable tourism that contributes to revitalizing the community without sacrificing its resources.

Although COVID-19 has put many restrictions on travel, it has brought a new tourism trend in Japan. Now, many people tend to avoid crowds and enjoy local areas where nature is abundant. What is more, they have found out the beauty and benefits of domestic travel.

[Reference] PR TIMES