No travel due to COVID? Food tourism shall come to your home!

COVID-19 has impacted the tourism industry in Japan, affecting the nation’s progress in regional revitalization. To counter the pandemic’s impact, Mie Prefecture Government, TASKAJI, and JTB Communication Design are launching the “Food Tourism Experience At Home” project collaboratively.

TASKAJI is a peer-to-peer housekeeping service platform launched in 2014. The rise in families with dual working parents inspired founder, Sachiko Wada, to reduce families’ housework burden. Wada decided to introduce the culture of outsourcing housekeeping in Japan.

Clients are matched with housekeepers, also known as TASKAJI-san. They offer cleaning, cooking, organizing, tidying, childcare, pet care and more. The housekeepers come from diverse backgrounds such as housewives, nutritionists, chefs, tidying gurus, and organization experts.

The “Food Tourism Experience At Home” project will take TASKAJI’s regular services to the next level. The test-marketing project began last November. TASKAJI-san will prepare a regional dish for clients, while also sharing information about the food’s region and origin. It is a new type of travel, all at the comfort of one’s home.

The nature of housework and childrearing makes it difficult for families to travel. On top of that, the pandemic has caused travel restrictions for the time being. The tourism industry is affected in many ways.

A dip in tourists resulted in a lack of demand for local food and ingredients. It affects local businesses and the environment because an oversupply of food eventually translates to food loss by food and beverage businesses.

This project supports Goal 12 of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) set by the United Nations. Goal 12 encourages sustainable consumption and production patterns. Sustainability is achieved differently during unprecedented times like this by bringing local ingredients and food to the tourists, instead of the other way round. It cushions the severity of food loss and supports local businesses economically.

It is vital to address the pandemic’s implications by adapting to our current circumstances, and the “Food Tourism Experience At Home” project does so by focusing on regional revitalization. It hopes that by bringing travel and gourmet to people, families will consider these regions for their future vacation.