Reflection at Tourism EXPO 2023: State of Japan tourism sustainability Part 2

Starting with domestic market

Of course, the Tourism Expo is targetted heavily towards domestic market – for travelers interested in visiting other parts of Japan and visiting other countries. And not are ready to open to the international crowd.

We were curious to see what Fukushima had to offer, in particular the Hama-dori region, especially after all it had been through. Although we were greeted by an interesting angle to travel and revitalization, they are not ready for international travelers to the affected region.

And that decision is wise. In the midst of rebuilding, they want to increase their network of stakeholders interested in building the future of Fukushima. This is the shape of “Hope Tourism” that is taking form in the prefecture. Rather than be intimidated like in Dark Tourism, Hope Tourism asks visitors to see the actual situation on the ground, speak with the local pioneers, and think about the future. The region is now experimenting with having facilitators guide trips to create sustainability based on what is good for the region.

However, it doesn’t mean that international visitors aren’t wlecome! As long as you are willing to approach your trip with a non-judgemental mind to learn, there are English guides available for you. Furthermore, the area affected by the disaster is but a small part of Fukushima, and the seasonal attractions are still top-notch.

Ecotourism as a means against overtourism and regional revitalization

There is a common theme in many of the booths: overtourism. Overtourism has been a big issue since Japan reopened its borders to visitors, with tourism negatively influencing both society and environment. In that light, the effort to divert the tourism crowd away from popular locations, usually towards the rural areas.

In a seminar hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, examples of ecotourism were shared from Gero City in Gifu Prefecture and Nantan City in Kyoto Prefecture. Masaru Horikami, Deputy Director-General, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of the Environment, closed with the reminder that ecotourism is a means for revitalizating rural regions.

And we see a number of examples, pushing for the “hidden Japan,” tour experiences that divert attention away from city centers, including both domestic and international travelers, whether sustainable or not.

There is caution, however, even if a destination is marked as sustainable. One would be the the “cost of sustainability,” including aspects like sustainability in reaching the spot of tour, and the carbon emissions taken to fly to Japan. Another would be the percentage of funds going direct to social and/or environmental good. The more money directed towards benefited the local communities and assets, the better.

Technology for sustainable tourism

While there were various technology leveraged for tourism, two stood out to us.

In order to understand a business’ impact, we need some way to measure. The most obvious would be to measure carbon emissions. We briefly mentioned about the DeTS during travel agency Tricolage’s interview, and how they use it to measure travel-related emissions. We met Tobu Top Tours, the developers of the DeTS, or Decarbonising Tourism System, and they were promoting it to interested parties who want a measure in the travel industry. An issue they faced with adoption was the lack of resources on client side to implement measurement systems.

Another interesting development we saw was the use of VR to simulate the happenings of the day of the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima. We talked about the threat of the last of hibakusha and leaving records and the memories of the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima. The Peace Park Tour VR, developed by the Tabimachi Hiroshima, is a new addition to the tour experience for the Peace Museum. Participants would carry a portable VR goggle to visit five locations around the peace park, where they can experience the scenes on the fateful day.

Japan Tourism Awards 2023

Awards were also given out at the expo. The Japan Tourism Awards exists to recognize the best roles and efforts of organizations in Japan promoting tourism.

There are four judging criteria to be qualified for the Japan Tourism Awards. One of them looks at how innovative the project is, like whether it creates a new market or leverages on digital transformation. Contribution to regional revitalization to encourage development in local regions is essential too. Sustainability is the third criteria, including the protection of culture and preservation of nature (this may still be in loose terms). Ultimately, profitability is needed to ensure profit to the region and the project’s ability to secure funding.

The winners cover a range of areas, from food tourism to regional revitalization to environmental preservation. Of course, the awards are given to both projects targeted at both domestic and international efforts.

Some of the winners include “Bed and Craft,” and accommodation that links its visitors directly with local artisans in hope to revitalize the artisan trade. Another was awarded to the Kamaishi Destination Management Company, for their development of the “Kamaishi Open Field Museum” to help Kamaishi Town recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

In the next three parts of our report, we will look at three examples of sustainable tourism that deserves our attention.