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  • Sustainable Tourism in Japan What it means and how JNTO aims to help realize it

The rapid expansion of global tourism in recent years has coincided with growing concern in many countries over its impact on the environment and on the lives of those living and working in popular tourist destinations. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened these concerns.

Prior to the pandemic, the huge increase in the number of overseas visitors to Japan--driven in particular by rapid economic growth in other countries across Asia--was starting to sound alarm bells, with many people lamenting overcrowding and pollution at the country's major attractions and the resulting burden on local residents and communities.

In response to growing worldwide concern over the impact of economic growth, in 2015 the United Nations adopted a series of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a bold agenda aimed at ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality, and combatting climate change.

Tourism, effectively managed, has the potential to contribute directly or indirectly to all of the goals. It is specifically referenced in Goal 8 (inclusive and sustainable economic growth), Goal 12 (sustainable consumption and production) and Goal 14 (the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources).

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The UN's World Tourism Organization has accordingly called for 'sustainable tourism', defining this as "tourism that meets the needs of visitors, industry, the environment and the host community, while taking into account the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of the present and future".

Acknowledging the responsibilities that go with being the world's third-largest economy, Japan is taking concrete steps to support these global targets. JNTO has accordingly formulated policies aimed at promoting sustainable tourism in Japan that will contribute to achievement of the SDGs.

These include

  • the disseminating of information on specific regions of Japan and tourist offerings that incorporate and promote sustainable tourism
  • advertising Japan's own success stories
  • encouraging Japanese vacationing abroad and overseas visitors to Japan to be responsible travelers
  • promoting 'universal tourism', i.e., tourism that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of such factors as race, nationality ethnicity, religion, gender or impairment

The aim, says JNTO, is to make Japan in the post-COVID era "a tourist destination of choice for travelers around the world".

It seems likely that travelers will welcome this focus. A recent survey by the online operator booking.com [1] revealed that more than two-thirds of global travelers want the revenues generated by tourism to be shared with local communities. More than 40% expressed a wish to support local communities and economies by being more mindful of their travel choices. And there is growing evidence that tourists are becoming more aware of the need to protect and sustain resources in the places they visit.

Reflecting these trends, JNTO's concept of sustainable tourism embodies the following goals:

  • protecting and nurturing local environments and their biodiversity
  • respecting and preserving local cultures
  • supporting local economies

The temporary halt in overseas tourism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is giving Japan further opportunity to consider how it can manage its tourism more effectively, and achieve these goals.

Concretely, JNTO will be promoting areas offering outdoor activities and with accommodation facilities that coexist with nature and therefore have less impact on the environment. This will encourage those with an awareness of the need to protect local environments to include these destinations in their itineraries.

[1] "Growing Awareness of the Impact of Travel: the Start of Responsible Travel", April 2021

They will also be promoting aspects of Japanese culture such as arts and crafts that have been nurtured since ancient times, encouraging overseas visitors to learn about these and to be mindful of the need to preserve them. Activities will include raising awareness of local food culture, encouraging the consumption of local produce, and offering cooking experiences to visitors.

JNTO will also be promoting travel to a much broader range of destinations across Japan and encouraging visitors to come at different times of the year, in order to ease the burden on current 'hotspots' and to spread traffic outside of traditional peak seasons.

Overall, JNTO will provide information and other support to local governments, highlighting to them how increased tourism can help create stable, long-term employment and stimulate their economies. In addition, they will encourage the promotion of travel packages where a portion of the proceeds are donated to local communities, aiming to ensure that these benefit more directly from inbound tourism.

Specific Initiatives

With Japan's thousands of miles of coastline, it is natural that there should be a focus on the oceanside and waterfront communities that inhabit these. Here are details of two initiatives JNTO is actively pursuing as part of its support for environmentally-friendly tourism.

The Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海, or Setonaikai) lies between the main Japanese islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku . Stretching more than 400 kilometers from Osaka to Kitakyushu, its calm waters include some 3,000 islands, many of which are inhabited and connected by a crisscross network of ferries.

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The Seto Inland Sea Ecotourism Council has put together a tour of the central part of the Inland Sea in the waters near Hiroshima prefecture, home to around 170 of the islands. Dubbed an 'adult study trip', the tour combines sightseeing by boat with study of the local environment, history and culture of the area.

The tour takes in the remote island of Osakikamijima, famous for its fruit produce and stunning views, and the tiny oceanside community of Yasuura, renowned for its cultivation of oysters. It also traverses the Tobishima Oceanside Road, popular with cyclists, and takes in the town of Takehara, known as the 'Little Kyoto of Aki Province', a prime producer of salt and saké in its heyday.

Takehara has become famous as the setting for the popular NHK TV drama Massan. It is the birthplace of Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whisky; a historical town featuring houses with beautiful plaster walls and amber woodwork lattice. Local guides explain the history of the area, illustrating these with stories and anecdotes that would be missed by those walking around by themselves.

Another tour offers visitors a chance to learn first-hand about the oyster trade, on which many local communities around the Seto Inland Sea depend. A boat transports them to Mitsuguchi Bay near the town of Kure , in Hiroshima prefecture. Under the guidance of a local oyster merchant, they try their hand removing oysters from their shells, something which can take a beginner two or three minutes, but which an experienced operator can do in 5-10 seconds! The tour concludes with a lunch of oysters at a local hotel with views across the sea.

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For the second eco-friendly tourist programs, we cross to the northern coast of Honshu, where the rugged Noto peninsula reaches out into the Sea of Japan like a crooked arm. Kotogahama beach, on the western edge of the peninsula, offers a unique attraction: sand that squeaks when you walk on it! The phenomenon is not fully understood, but quartz sand seems to produce this sound under certain circumstances, especially if the grains are rounded.

sustainable_tourism_04.jpg

In 1996, Japan's Ministry of the Environment created a list of the best 100 soundscapes from across the country, hoping to preserve the sounds cherished by people as symbols of their community. The list features sounds which have special meaning to locals in all areas of Japan, ranging from the ringing of specific bells to birds' cries and the soundscapes of specific festivals. And of course, singing sand.

Tours are arranged allowing visitors to walk barefoot through the sand and relax in colorful swaying hammocks on the beach - a great stress-reliever guaranteed to lift the spirits of all city dwellers!

For the more active, games of frescoball are offered, where two players use small wooden bats and partner with each other to bat a small ball between themselves on the beach.

These are just two examples of regions of Japan already offering tourist experiences that are not only friendlier to the environment, but encourage visitors to experience more of the local culture and history of their destinations than the standard tour usually allows.

As JNTO looks to help the country's tourism sector recover after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we look forward to bringing you details of further local destinations and initiatives that are embracing the concept of 'sustainable tourism'.

Some photos and images featuring in this article are available for download at the Japan Online Media Center website at https://business.jnto.go.jp/resource/

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Japan National Tourism Organization draws up a 2023-2025 marketing strategy for inbound travel with three pillars

japan tourism goals

Japan National Tourism Organization drew up a three-years marketing strategy for inbound travel by 2025 to achieve the government’s goals of 5 trillion JPY in inbound travel spending, two nights an inbound traveler in local regions and recovery of international arrivals to the 2019 level, which are set under the Tourism Promotion Basic Plan. 

The strategy consists of three pillars of ‘strategy by market,’ ‘cross-market strategy on high-value-added travel, adventure travel (AT) and Osaka Kansai EXPO’ and ‘MICR strategy. 

For strategy by market, JNTO is appealing tourism themes or contents by market, focusing on high-spending travelers and travelers who intend to visit local regions as targets, and developing more effective promotional approaches. 

For cross-market strategy, JNTO is strengthening a network of stakeholders, collection of tourism contents and sales of tourism products, targeting travelers who spend 1 million JPY a travel. Also, JNTO partners Adventure Travel Trade Association(ATTA) for AT and is trying to encourage international visitors for the EXPO to visit local regions in Japan. 

For MICE strategy, JNTO will attract international conferences or incentive travels that meet new requirements after the pandemic. 

In addition, JNTO is addressing sustainable tourism to enhance environmental, social and economic sustainabilities in local regions and to raise Japan’s presence globally in sustainable tourism. 

Let us hear your VOICE Please feel free to leave any comments or opinions.

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How Japan Is Transforming Its Visitor Economy for the Next Wave of Tourism

Japan National Tourism Organization + Skift

Japan National Tourism Organization + Skift

January 23rd, 2019 at 10:00 AM EST

Japan has grand ambitions to bring more than 40 million visitors to the country by 2020, and 60 million by 2030. But the country isn’t just dreaming big, it’s acting big too. Thanks to a concerted country-wide push by tourism officials and local business leaders to transform the Japanese tourism economy, the country seems on track to achieve this vision.

Japan National Tourism Organization

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There are few destinations thinking about the potential of tourism as ambitiously as Japan, a country of just 126 million that has set an official goal to attract 40 million inbound visitors by 2020 and 60 million by 2030. Since 2016, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced bold plans to make inbound tourism a keystone of Japan’s future growth and regional revitalization, public and private organizations throughout the country have been working to make this vision a reality.

So far the plan is paying off. According to statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), which handles the promotion of tourism abroad, the country received a record 31.2 million inbound tourism arrivals in 2018, an increase of 8.7 percent from 2017. Now, thanks to upcoming international events like Rugby World Cup 2019 (coming to 12 venues countrywide) and the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan seems to be on its way to achieving this goal.

But even as Japan’s ambitions for tourism continue to grow, there’s an increasing recognition of the challenges that must be addressed to make this vision a reality. “40 million is not easy to achieve,” acknowledged Mamoru Kobori, executive vice president of JNTO. Some solutions are more obvious, including increased investment in digital marketing and more focus on tourist-friendly amenities. Among the projects already in the works are a rollout of free Wi-Fi service in many of the country’s rail stations and bullet trains, more accessible  taxi apps , and the countrywide deployment of new multi foreign-language signage, smartphone guide apps, and maps in key tourist hotspots.

Still, these improvements on their own are not enough. In fact, today, Japan is working to address a growing imbalance of visitors between Japan’s most-popular sights and its lesser-known destinations. Many foreign visitors still spend the majority of their time and money in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a minimal tourist traffic reaching lesser-known regions that sorely need these visitors. This imbalance can also contribute to quality of life issues for citizens in popular locations. “We need to strike the right balance between the benefits of tourism and the issues it can cause for local residents,” said Jun Takashina, vice commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), which oversees government tourism policies in the country.

How then will Japan achieve its bold visitor goals? And more importantly, how will the country design a more sustainable visitor strategy that embraces Japan’s well-known and lesser known regions alike, evenly distributing the tourism’s economic benefits country-wide?

Addressing the Challenges to Reach 40 Million Visitors

As Japanese government officials now believe, traditional visitor promotion efforts like hosting big-name events is just one piece of a multi-faceted tourism strategy to achieve success. “Everybody believes the so-called ‘Olympic legacy’ will enable Japan to develop and grow further as a popular destination,” said Kobori. “But the Olympic and Paralympic Games also create their own problems as millions of people come to the Tokyo area…we need to carefully plan our promotion activities so that [lesser-known] areas like Hokkaido or Kyushu, for example, can be easily accessed.”

In fact, the fastest-growing tourism issue is Japan’s tourism imbalance between popular destinations and lesser-known cities and regions. Consider 2017 JNTO statistics on country-wide visitation habits to understand the disparity. Of the more than 28 million visitors who came to Japan in 2017, the Kanto Region (home of Tokyo) saw more than 27 million visitors, while the Kinki Region (home of Kyoto and Osaka) welcomed 17 million. Meanwhile, the country’s lesser-known Shikoku and Tohoku Regions received just 690,000 and 966,000 visits, respectively, during the same period.

The challenge of this imbalance is twofold. For more popular destinations like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, it can create quality of life headaches for local officials and residents, who increasingly contend with problems like overcrowded public transportation services, wall-to-wall crowds at tourist sites, and excessive demand for a limited supply of accommodations. But the imbalance is also an opportunity. Both JNTO and JTA are now developing new strategies to encourage “visitor dispersal.” This emerging tourism discipline focuses on developing new tourism regulations, infrastructure, and promotional activities which will entice inbound visitors to include lesser-known destinations and regions in their trip itineraries.

Another goal to help mitigate this destination imbalance is encouraging more visits from tourists located so-called “long-haul” markets such as Australia, North America, and Europe. According to JNTO, 85 percent of inbound visitors in 2017 originated from nearby countries in the Asia region, while only slightly more than 11 percent of Japan’s inbound traffic arrived from the combined areas of the US, Canada, Australia, and the top six countries in Europe. Japanese tourism officials know that visitors from these regions tend to spend more on average during their visits, and stay longer in the country ( more than half of US leisure travelers in 2017 stayed between 7 and 13 days), suggesting they will be an increasingly attractive target in the future.

Building a Sustainable Vision for the Future of Japanese Tourism

There’s no question that Japan faces a complicated path on its journey to reach 40 million visitors. But based on growing evidence, the public and private tourism sectors are already working to create a new vision, transforming how they promote Japan to the world and how visitors will experience the country once they arrive.

On the promotional side, JNTO is working to change perceptions of Japan by means of a combined market research and advertising campaign targeting long-haul visitors. The first stage involved consumer research to identify seven visitor “passions” around the themes of cuisine, tradition, nature, city, relaxation, art, and the outdoors. “For the first time, we completed an extensive survey in these markets to understand why they don’t come to Japan, even though they like traveling,” explained JNTO’s Kobori. “We found there are seven major targets, or sectors of markets, which need to be further developed with specific promotions.”

In February 2018, JNTO launched a new multi-lingual marketing campaign based on this research targeting long-haul travelers, called “ Enjoy my Japan .” The campaign capitalizes on these seven passions and also encourages long-haul visitors to explore beyond the country’s most popular attractions.

As Kobori believes, many of the experiences featured in “Enjoy my Japan,” like the country’s national parks and beaches, are not well known among this audience. “We wanted to let people know more about different aspects of Japan as a travel destination,” he said. “Many people who have a ‘one-sided’ image of Japan only know about our metropolitan areas. They may not realize Japan can offer attractions related to nature…we have 34 government-registered national parks.”

Japan’s transformation of its tourism strategy doesn’t stop there. Another facet of the country’s plan was the launch of the Private Lodging Business Act in June 2018, which aims to better facilitate and manage the growth of private lodging services (called “minpaku”) such as Airbnb throughout the country. The new law aims to expand the availability of private lodging where travelers can stay safely, particularly in rural areas where the current supply of hotel inventory is scarce, and previously “idle” assets like vacant houses can be redeveloped to host visitors. It will also help regulate private lodging operators, ensuring they follow local regulations and respond to concerns from Japanese residents. “[Private lodging] can cause problems, so that’s why we introduced a new system with better structure to control it,” explained JTA’s Takashina.

To help further alleviate the growing visitor crunch, Japanese officials are also forming private sector partnerships to help boost hotel capacity, particularly in underserved destinations. A new Ritz Carlton development in Nikko, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and new Hilton properties in Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the cities’ convention facilities, are just a few examples. In addition, a variety of independent and luxury chains have announced openings in the country. “In the next couple of years, we’ll have two or three dozen new hotel properties in the luxury category opening, not only in Tokyo but in other local areas,” said Kobori. These new properties should help stimulate new demand in lesser-known regions of the country.

Yet another change involves encouraging collaboration and providing support for local and regional tourism boards. Until a few years ago, marketing and tourism activity was handled individually by each region or city. But that’s now changing as Japan’s regional destinations band together to cooperate more closely on promotion and share tourism strategies, helped in part by the formation of a world-level destination marketing organization (DMO) by JTA in 2015. As of July 2018, there were 86 DMOs and 122 candidate DMOs in Japan that were officially registered by Japan Tourism Agency.

Tourism leaders at JNTO recognize the need to empower more local tourism leaders to innovate, collaborate, and develop a tailored strategy that works for their own region. “We have to invest,” said Kobori. “It may take some time for each local community to get ready to adapt to this new age of digital marketing, but many people are already aware of the need to change.”

Japan has made a significant bet that tourism can ensure the country’s economy continues to thrive in the years ahead. However, making good on this promise will require a massive country-wide push to transform nearly all sectors of the tourism industry, from the government, to its regional tourism boards, to the private businesses that serve foreign visitors — not an easy task.

But with the help of plenty of innovative new tourism ideas, coupled with a commitment to do the hard work necessary to transform the tourism economy, the country seems to be on the path to make its revolutionary tourism goals a success.

This content was created collaboratively by Japan National Tourism Organization and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX .

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Tags: destinations , japan , japan national tourism organization , tourism

Photo credit: Godzilla Road Joshua Mellin, @joshuamellin

Destination Stewardship Center

Extending the work of the national geographic center for sustainable destinations..

japan tourism goals

Japan’s Journey Toward Sustainability

It’s a tall order for a large country to change its national policy and commit to improving stewardship for hundreds of its tourism destinations, but Japan is taking tentative steps in that direction, spurred on by one young official and a lot of collaborators. GSTC’s Emi Kaiwa reports on how this tentative change of heart came about, what’s happened to date, and how far it has to go.

Springtime for Destination Stewardship in Japan

japan tourism goals

Sakura tree spring blossoms. Photo ©Emi Kaiwa

In 2018, a book left in an office rack snagged the attention of a young Japanese official. Beginning with that moment, Japan, a country of 126.17 million in 2019 1 , finally began action toward sustainability in tourism. In 2020 the Japan Tourism Agency ( JTA ) decided to adopt the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Criteria as policy and create a national set of guidelines called the Japan Sustainable Tourism Standard for Destinations (JSTS-D) 2 .

Unwilling to be left behind, Japan is on the trail to becoming a sustainable country with a national program to support its hundreds of tourism destinations. In addition, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared that Japan will achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.

How Did This Come To Pass? Over the past decade, JTA focused on marketing, seeking an ever-increasing number of international visitor arrivals (IVAs), 3  while still aiming for a measure of sustainability. The target was for 20 million IVAs by 2020, which was quickly met, and then revised to a goal of 40 million. The Covid pandemic kept this goal from being acheived, but Japan decided to aim for a target of 60 million IVAs by 2030.

japan tourism goals

Fuji-san draws both domestic and international tourists. ©Emi Kaiwa

This increase might seem contradictory to meeting sustainability goals, but Japan is larger in size than Italy, which received 131 million visitors in 2019 (albeit with some dire overtourism situations). Arguably, Japan has room.For an entire country, economic goals are still as important as sustainability.

It was challenging to impart the importance of destination management to industry stakeholders whose priority used to be marketing. In order to do both, Japan had to find a way to sustainably manage destinations so that they can receive 60 million visitors. The solution came in the form of the GSTC framework, which promoted the idea of destination management [in its Destination Criterion A1] while still supporting economic goals.

The Book and the Man In 2018, GSTC was not well known to Mr. Hajime Ono, the young Chief Official from Visitors Experience Improvement, JTA. One day, a book 4 that “someone” left on the rack in his office caught his eye. It summarized in Japanese a 2017 forum on sustainable tourism. The contents of the book were all about GSTC, which aroused his intense curiosity to learn more.

japan tourism goals

Cars jam the same spot to see Mt. Fuji. “I saw one car hit another due to the limited parking space,” says the author.  ©Emi Kaiwa

Understanding the value of GSTC’s comprehensive global standard for managing destinations made him consider the connection between management and overtourism issues. He concluded that the GSTC-Destination criteria could be the broad management tool needed for dealing with overtourism, a critical problem for Japan before COVID-19 arrived. Even if this pandemic stays for a while, the tourism business will bounce back sooner or later.

Japan may in fact have sufficient capacity to receive its goal of 60 million IVAs by 2030. One way is through promoting rural areas as tourist destinations. So is development of transportation infrastructure – airport facilities and mixed-mode commuting to rural areas, accommodation facilities, and tourism resources – that will make it possible for tourists to spread out and visit different regions in Japan. By using information and communication technology, popular destinations can control tourists’ visiting times and mitigate the impact of seasonality.

A plan for comprehensive management of destinations was therefore deemed essential, and adopting the GSTC approach as a tourism policy was the solution. Mr. Ono became the lead in creating the JSTS-D guidelines to comply with GSTC-D criteria. The guidelines employed user-friendly wording, with references and examples, as a way to provide self-guided management at the destination level.

japan tourism goals

That “someone” who left the book on sustainable tourism for Mr. Ono was actually one person representing many people who worked hard to get attention from the government for many years. Their earnest effort has borne fruit. Mr. Ono left the Visitors Experience Improvement department in March 2021 and moved to the Office of Director for Travel Promotion. Now, a newly formed organization called “Japan Tourism for SDGs”, which is not government mandate, will take over the initiative from the national government to continue Japan’s journey. This independent organization is led by Mr. Hidetoshi Kobayashi, who has declared that he will spend the rest of his life working for sustainable tourism.

Commentary JSTS-D is not perfect. There is room for improvement, and that is one of the important characteristics of sustainability. Obtaining a sustainability label does not mean everything is entirely sustainable. Other aspects of improvement will be found in the learning process of getting certified. For now, think what the best approach is to move toward sustainability for the destination. The answer will not be the same, single, perfect solution for every prefecture and municipality. Perfect sustainability cannot be achieved at once, but destinations should keep moving forward patiently, one step at a time.

As the proverb says, Rome was not built in a day, nor was it built by only one man. Accelerating the sustainability movement requires fostering talent, expanding partnerships, and creating a network of people with sustainability mindsets. It might take time and endurance, but it thrives unexpectedly once a destination is ready. Sustainability is a long journey, probably without end, and the government is not the only one to lead its path. Society also needs to keep catching up and adjusting to rapid changes in a globalizing world. On this Earth of limited resources, however, the pathway of sustainability is required to maintain all humankind.

[1]Statists Bureau of Japan. Statistical Handbook of Japan 2020 . [Online]. Available from https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.html#:~:text=Japan’s%20total%20population%20in%202019%20was%20126.17%20million [Accessed 23 rd November 2020].

[4] Japan Eco Tourism Center. 100年先を見すえた観光地域づくりのために 島原半島フォーラム . [Online]. Available from https://ecocen.jp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ea3cb83b4770677bfa7ecda0280d78ba.pdf [Accessed 23 rd November 2020] *This book was produced by Japan Eco Tourism Center’s grants projects to promote GSTC in Japan since 2015.

Thanks to Mr. Ono for his commitment to sustainable tourism initiatives as a government official and his assistance with this report.

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About Emi Kaiwa

GSTC Membership Coordinator and a committed supporter to “Japan Tourism for SDGs”, Emi has been working for sustainable development through tourism in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and has experience in corporate partnership for sustainability in Japan.

2 thoughts on “ Japan’s Journey Toward Sustainability ”

Thank you Emi for sharing how Japan has started its journey towards sustainability. I am looking forward to collaborating with the newly formed “Japan Tourism for SDGs” centre to further promote Sustainable Tourism in Japan.

Thank you for your kind comment 🙂 I wish to have more like-minded people like you in Japan. Thanks!!

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Japan's hospitality and tourism industry is recovering, but there are challenges

a side view of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan

Japan's readiness to receive tourists is not keeping pace with the speed of the recovery of visitor numbers. Image:  Unsplash/Sayaka Ganz

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  • Japan's hospitality and tourism sector is recovering in earnest after reopening its border to foreign visitors and lifting mask rules after COVID-19.
  • As a result, March saw visitor numbers reach nearly 2 million, equivalent to about two-thirds of tourist figures for the same month in 2019.
  • Japan will need to adapt to avoid 'overtourism' and also address post-pandemic labour shortages in both hospitality and tourism.

The Japanese hospitality and tourism industry is beginning to recover in earnest after being badly hit by COVID-19.

In October 2022, Japan lifted the ceiling on the number of foreign tourists entering the country as well as the ban on the entry of individual foreign travellers, thereby significantly easing its pandemic border control measures. Furthermore, as of March this year, the rule to wear masks, both indoors and outdoors, is now left to individual discretion.

This was a tailwind, and the number of visitors to Japan in the same month quickly recovered to 1,827,500 – a figure is equivalent to 66% of the pre-pandemic March 2019 tally and 27.5 times higher than in March 2022.

By country/region, the largest number of visitors to Japan in March came from South Korea with 466,800 – or 79.7% of the figure for March 2019; followed by Taiwan with 278,900; the United States with 203,000, and Hong Kong with 144,900. In addition, since Japan eased travel restrictions from China on March 1, the number of travellers from the country almost doubled to 75,000 in February.

Takahide Kiuchi, Executive Economist at Nomura Research Institute, forecasts that "inbound demand for the year 2023 will be JPY 4,958 billion (about $36.7 billion), which could quickly surpass the JPY 4,813.5 billion (about $35.7 billion) inbound demand in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic”.

However, while Japan's economy is being revitalized in earnest by inbound consumption – boosted in part by the record low yen, which makes Japan an attractive destination for foreign tourists – the country is facing a noticeable challenge as its readiness to receive tourists is not keeping pace with the speed of the recovery in visitor numbers.

Severe labour shortages in hospitality

The hospitality and restaurant industries are in a particularly tight spot, unable to cope with the resurgence of inbound tourism.

According to a January survey released by Teikoku Databank, the percentage of companies feeling a labour shortage (non-permanent employees) amounted to 81.8% for inns and hotels and 80.4% for restaurants. Of all sectors, these two industries in particular are experiencing an outstanding labour shortage, with the percentage for inns/hotels at an all-time high.

Many in the hospitality and restaurant sectors have been forced to reduce their workforce and curtail new hiring due to closures, shorter hours and poor performance caused by the spread of COVID-19, and many employees have moved on to other jobs. The fact it is not easy to bring back staff once they have left the industry is the main reason for the serious labour shortage.

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Japanese industry has been trying to solve labour shortages by accepting foreign workers. The tourism sector has relied heavily on part-time jobs for foreign students. According to data from the Japan Student Services Organization in 2021, the hospitality and restaurant industries accounted for nearly 40% of all part-time jobs for foreign students. However, foreign student part-time workers have completely disappeared since the pandemic.

Furthermore, the depreciation of the yen, which has been progressing since the second half of last year, has significantly lowered wages in Japan from the perspective of other countries. Despite overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and embarking on a path of economic recovery, Japan is no longer attractive as a country to go to as a migrant worker, and it is no longer possible to expect to attract foreign staff .

In a bid to address the problem in hospitality, hotel operations are being reformed by using digital technology to increase efficiency. JTB, a major Japanese travel agency, has developed a platform that links its core system with digital tools such as ATMs to save labour in check-out and other operations, and is now offering the system to hotels.

Tokyu Hotels, which operates 45 hotels in Japan, has also introduced NEC's Smart Hospitality Service , which enables automatic check-in using facial recognition and QR codes, at 39 of its hotels nationwide. Users can check in by simply holding up their face to a tablet terminal at the front desk if they have registered their guest information and photo in advance – making operations more efficient.

Countermeasures against ‘overtourism’

Overtourism has long been a challenge for the Japanese travel industry, and local residents in key tourist areas have suffered from issues including crowding, traffic congestion, rubbish and noise. The ability to diversify the times and areas visited by tourists is key to preventing overtourism, while allowing the tourism industry to gain momentum for a resurgence.

According to a Japan Tourism Agency survey, most people travel on holidays, including major national holidays, and only 16.5% of travel volume occurs on weekdays , which account for 70% of the annual number of days.

As such, the government is working to diversify travel demand by increasing the amount of coupons granted for weekday travel in its nationwide travel support programme. Now that the spread of teleworking has made it feasible to combine work and travel on weekdays, the creation of new incentives, such as work holidays, could also help to balance out travel demand.

Diversification of tourist destinations is another important issue. Pre-pandemic, the occupancy rate of accommodation facilities in Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka – where tourists are concentrated – rose to nearly 80%, and the negative effects of overtourism were being called out.

However, in many prefectures located along the typical tourist routes for foreign visitors, the occupancy rate of accommodation facilities was less than 50%, resulting in regional differences. In the future, it will be important to bridge these regional differences by promoting Japan's diverse destinations, and to increase the number of people visiting non-representative tourist destinations by attracting repeat visitors.

Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future

Looking to a new future for japan tourism.

The World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future ranked Japan first in the development index ranking due to the speed with which the travel and tourism industry has recovered from the devastation caused by the pandemic.

Assuming that the travel and tourism industry will play an important role in global economic and social development, the report emphasizes that investment in the drivers of the industry’s development will be crucial in the future.

Meanwhile, Atsushi Takahashi of JR East Japan Planning Inc sounded an alarm bell on the past Japanese approach to tourism and instead urged a new way of thinking. “We have long made decisions based on intuition, experience and assumptions. We have been making decisions for a long time without looking at data,” he said.

“The original marketing is to choose the best solution at the time from multiple hypotheses that emerge depending on how the data is viewed and interpreted. However, in the field of tourism, I feel that this is still too shallow.”

His observations stress his belief that data-based initiatives in Japan's tourism industry are also essential to solving issues facing the sector today, as well to providing new forms of tourism services altogether.

Pre-pandemic, China ranked first in the number of foreign visitors to Japan by nationality and region, accounting for a 25.6% share . Currently, there are restrictions on issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals, but if these restrictions are lifted in the future, the number of visitors from China is expected to increase rapidly.

In addition, the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai – which will be held for six months and centre around the theme of 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives' – is expected to attract 3.5 million foreign tourists.

With these expected surges in visitor numbers, the question will be how Japan can solve the problems facing hospitality and tourism, while also creating and providing services that place value on new forms of tourism.

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Japan aiming for record number of foreign visitors in 2025

KYODO NEWS

Japan aims to receive a record number of foreign visitors in 2025, a draft of the government's revised plan showed Thursday, with inbound tourism seeing a steady recovery since the country significantly eased border measures last October.

The tourism plan covering fiscal 2023 to 2025 also aims to increase per person spending to 200,000 yen ($1,500), up around 25 percent from 2019 levels, and see a 10 percent increase in the number of overnight stays in regional areas by foreign visitors.

The ambitious goals come as the government expects a recovery in demand for international air travel and for upcoming international events to be held in Japan, such as the Expo 2025 in Osaka, to boost visitor numbers.

japan tourism goals

The draft plan, which was presented at a meeting of experts on Thursday, is set to be approved by the Cabinet in March.

While the previous plan ended in fiscal 2020, a revision was postponed due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism industry.

In 2019, prior to the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic, a record 31.88 million tourists visited Japan. But the number fell sharply following the outbreak of COVID-19, totaling only 4.12 million in 2020 and 250,000 in 2021.

Rather than focusing solely on numbers, the revision will also incorporate strategies to address "tourism pollution" through measures such as attracting high-end tourists and encouraging them to venture outside the main cities.

With no immediate prospects for a recovery in Chinese visitors, the government is likely to focus on attracting wealthy travelers from Western countries instead.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has already set a target for annual tourist spending to reach a record 5 trillion yen as soon as possible, eclipsing the about 4.8 trillion yen spent in 2019.

A new target for "sustainable tourism" will also be included in the plan, with the government set to drastically increase the number of participating areas to 100 from the 13 covered as of January this year.

Under the scheme, municipalities that meet certain criteria will be certified as taking measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

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6 questions travelers need to ask before visiting Japan this year

Sasha Brady

Oct 5, 2022 • 5 min read

Two young men walking towards a shinto shrine on a sunny day.

Unrestricted international tourism is returning to Japan on October 11 © Getty Images

On October 11,  Japan will finally open its doors to independent travel following more than two years of some of the world’s toughest border restrictions. The country is also bringing back visa-free entry for visitors from more than 60 countries.

Does that mean it will be as easy to visit now as it was pre-pandemic? Sort of. There are still some pandemic-era rules in place, and you might find that locals are still taking many precautions against the virus compared to other nations. Yet at the same time, there’s much excitement on the ground about the return of international tourism, with Japan gearing up to welcome visitors back with exciting new attractions and events.

Eating on trains, embracing bidets and more tips for your Japan trip

1. Do I need to pack a mask?

Yes. Face masks have been a norm in Japan since before the pandemic. People often wear them year-round to protect their lungs from air pollution and to protect themselves and others from viruses, infections and allergens. While Japan has no official mask mandate in place, you’ll find that many businesses still require people to wear one indoors; you’ll also see people with a mask while on a bus, train or taxi, or in any sort of crowded indoor environment. They’re an everyday item for many, and it wouldn’t hurt to have one in your bag or pocket at all times. If you forget to pack one, it’s easy enough to find a surgical-style disposable face mask in airports and pharmacies all over Japan.

People walking in Shibuya shopping district

2. Have I checked which entry rules apply to me?

Japan has a color-coded classification entry scheme for all countries, which will continue even after travel rules ease on October 11. The system sets out distinct rules depending on what country you’re entering Japan from. Travelers coming from a “blue” country – a list that currently includes the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Mexico, Thailand and many EU nations – no longer have to quarantine and have the option to show proof of vaccination or negative test results before traveling. Travelers from “yellow” and “red” countries are subject to additional entry requirements, such as testing upon arrival and quarantine. You can view the complete list of countries and categories  here .

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3. Have I downloaded the MySOS app?

MySOS is a smartphone app (available for Android and iOS ) that’s used to record your vaccine and health information for entry into Japan. It should help you get through airport security checks more quickly by being a one-stop shop for all of your essential documents. If you’re traveling with kids, their relevant information can be stored in your MySOS app, too.

4. Do I need to apply for a visa?

Japan will reinstate visa-free travel on October 11 for travelers from more than 68 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Singapore, Thailand and more . If a passport holder a country on the visa-waiver list, you won’t need a visa to travel to Japan if you’re staying for less than 90 days.

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A group of friends enjoying at Japanese pub

5. Should I reserve restaurants and museums in advance?

Japan has some of the most sophisticated, creative and celebrated restaurants on the planet. And for many travelers, its cuisine is one of Japan's biggest draws. Getting a table at the top spots has always been a challenge in the capital  Tokyo  (whether it's  Kozue for seafood, Tamawarai for soba, or the two-star Michelin Den , you generally need to express your interest well before showing up), and in cities like  Kyoto  and Osaka  – but since the pandemic, most restaurants across the country require advance reservation, a rule that hasn’t gone away even as the government relaxes its response to the pandemic.

Museums also have new entry systems in place as well, and you’ll likely need to book your spot before showing up. Check the website of the museum you wish to visit ahead of your trip to secure your preferred date and time.

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6. What new attractions can I add to my Japan itinerary?

Theme Parks

It feels like there’s always something exciting brewing in Japan. While the pandemic may have paused momentum, it’s now full speed ahead for the opening of some much-anticipated new attractions. After the world's first Super Nintendo World opened in Osaka during the pandemic, the next big thing is  Ghibli Park , a theme park based on the works of animation legend Hayao Miyazaki set to open in Aichi Prefecture on November 1. Unlike traditional theme parks, you won’t find rides here: instead, you’ll walk through the dreamy, watercolor-style landscapes and architecture from Ghibli movies like My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle .

Earlier this year, Ishikawa’s New Prefectural Library opened, featuring 300,000 open stacks of books (and the capacity for two million). It’s quickly become a magnet for anyone who loves books, crafts, art and history, and anyone with even a passing interest in cutting-edge architecture. The building’s exterior resembles the pages of a book being turned, while inside you’ll find craftworks by Ishikawa’s master artisans.

Trying the traditional crafts of Ishikawa prefecture

Now that borders are open you can visit a new UNESCO site in northern Japan, open since May 2021. The Jomon Prehistoric Sites  collectively form a Cultural Heritage Site, at which you’ll learn about the culture of the indigenous Jōmon people across 17 archaeological areas. 

Bullet Trains

Japan’s public transport system is among the best in the world, its jewel the high-tech, high-speed bullet-train network, which is continuously expanding. If you want to test a new route on your travels, the Nishi- Kyūshū line opened in September, taking passengers on a 41-mile journey between the famous hot spring town of Takeo Onsen in the northwest and the city of Nagasaki (gateway to the Gotō Islands) in just 23 minutes.

Japan's best food and drink experiences

If you’re in Tokyo, check out Okushibu,   the Japanese nickname for “Deep Shibuya.” This once well-kept secret within the shopping district of Shibuya  has now become a go-to zone for late-night cafe culture, as well as some really unique and creative restaurants. Okushibu runs parallel to the new rooftop Miyashita Park , and you can stay in the heart of the action when the new Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park opens in 2023. Expect a rooftop infinity pool with views across the park – and the city.

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Japan to focus on rebound tourism

japan tourism goals

Japan is aiming to recover inbound tourism to its 2019-level by 2025 and is maintaining its long-held goal of welcoming 60 million international visitors by 2030.

The ambitious plan, released by the Japan Tourism Agency, includes targets to revitalise regional areas through tourism and to increase foreign travellers’ rate of consumption and length of stay.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 2019 was a record year for Japan’s inbound tourism, with 31.88 million arrivals whose combined spending totalled 4.8 trillion yen (US$34.4 billion).

Now, the government is targeting at least the same number of foreign visitors and total inbound tourism-related consumption of at least five trillion yen by 2025.

Japan still has a long way to go, having welcomed only 250,000 inbound tourists in 2021 and 1.5 million over January-October 2022, but government officials have pointed to the rapid uptick in arrivals since the country opened up to FIT travel, namely a 955 per cent increase in daily arrivals from early October to early November.

In a bid to address over-tourism of the country’s top cultural and metropolitan spots, including Kyoto and Tokyo, the plan also aims to attract more foreign visitors to regional areas.

The goal is to exceed the 43.1 million who stayed in Japan’s regions in 2019 by 2025, which the government plans to do by showcasing each region’s unique characteristics, particularly their nature and historical attractions.

Pent-up demand for Japan, the weakness of the yen against other major currencies and upcoming events, such as the 2025 Expo in Osaka and the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, are expected to help Japan reach these goals, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

After a review of specific measures, the tourism plan is scheduled to be approved by the cabinet at the end of March 2023.

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November 2021

Feature Article

japan tourism goals

Overview of the Japanese Government's Tourism Policy for Foreign Tourists

by hirokazu nishikawa.

1. History of the Japanese Government’s Tourism Policy

The Japanese government's tourism policy began in earnest in 2003. In January of that year, the then prime minister set a goal of doubling the number of foreign visitors to Japan by 2010 from the approximately 5 million at that time, followed by the launch of the “Visit Japan Campaign” by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in April of the same year to strategically promote the Japanese brand overseas.

The reason behind these moves by the government was that since 1964, when overseas tourism was liberalized, the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad increased due to the strong yen and rising national income, while at the same time witnessing a significant gap between the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad and that of foreign tourists visiting Japan. It is conceivable that the current situation is far from reaching the policy goal of the time, which was to "improve the international balance of cashflow and promote economic and cultural exchange with foreign countries.”

The number of foreign visitors to Japan has been steadily increasing since 2003. In 2008 the Japan Tourism Agency was newly established as a bureau under MLIT, and in 2016 the government set a goal of achieving 40 million foreign visitors to Japan annually by 2020, further strengthening the system to achieve the aim of becoming a tourism-oriented country.

japan tourism goals

In 2019, Japan was ranked 12th (3rd in Asia) in terms of the number of incoming foreign tourists (31.88 million), increasing its popularity as a tourist country and steadily growing its visitor numbers, but due to the coronavirus, was forced to significantly decrease its numbers the following year.

2.Outline of the Japanese Government's Tourism Policy for Foreign Tourists (Introduction of the FY2022 Budget Request)

Since the spread of the COVID-19 virus, domestic and international tourism demand has decreased significantly, and the tourism industry has been severely affected. Against this backdrop, I would like to introduce some of the major policies aimed at improving the environment for and the gradual revival of inbound tourism within the budget outlined for the next fiscal year by the Japan Travel Agency, as follows.

Emergency Project for Improving the Environment for Foreign Visitors Traveling to Japan

In order to create an environment in which foreign visitors traveling to Japan can fully enjoy their trip in a stress-free and comfortable manner at tourist spots, accommodation facilities, and public transportation, and to create a safe and secure travel environment in case of emergencies such as disasters, the following measures will be supported: enhancement of multilingual tourist information provisions, development of free Wi-Fi services, dissemination of cashless transactions, promotion of barrier-free environments for disability accessibility, improvement of countermeasures against the COVID-19 virus, and strengthening of multilingual responses in case of emergencies.

(Some examples of measures)

Utilizing a contactless check-in system using Digital Transformation

Signage in multiple languages

Free Wi-Fi in transportation facilities and vehicles

japan tourism goals

Sustainable Tourism Promotion Project

As the interest in sustainable tourism* is increasing worldwide, Japan will promote it, as well as addressing overtourism and carbon neutrality, by establishing a management system that can be used as a model across other regions in order to become the tourist destination of choice for travelers around the world.

(*) The World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) definition of sustainable tourism: tourism that fully considers current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts while responding to the needs of visitors, industries, the environment, and the communities that host them.

As an example of efforts, by implementing the Japan Sustainable Tourism Standard for Destinations (JSTS-D), a best-practice for sustainable tourism destination management has been developed and is being implemented nationwide.

(Examples of overtourism in each region)

Crowded and congested tourist spots (The two pictures on the left)

Residents picking up trash left by tourists / Traffic obstruction in tourist areas (The two pictures on the right)

japan tourism goals

(The Role of these Guidelines)

japan tourism goals

Use as a Self-Assessment Tool: a guideline for tourism policy making and tourism planning

Use as a Communication Tool: an opportunity for the community to work together to create a sustainable region and tourist destination

Use as a Promotional Tool: branding as a tourist destination and improving international competitiveness

Implementation of Strategic Promotion for Foreign Tourists

Focusing on a post-COVID-19 virus future, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) will work on strategic promotion for inbound tourism to Japan in order for it to easily recovery, increase travel spending, and attract more visitors to regional areas. By doing these, Japan aims to achieve its goals of 60 million foreign visitors and 15 trillion yen in foreign travel spending by 2030. In particular, the following five measures will be taken.

1. Implementing promotions to stimulate the desire to revisit Japan among repeat visitors

A large-scale campaign to stimulate the desire to revisit Japan will be conducted for repeat travelers in the Asian market, who are expected to resume visiting Japan at an early stage. In addition, JNTO will promote an increase in consumption by strengthening the dissemination of experiential tourism in local areas.

2. Strengthening promotions based on changes in demand due to Covid

Promotions of experiences that are expected to have increased demand in the post- COVID-19 virus era, such as sports and adventure tourism, will be fortified to take into consideration local lifestyles and nature.

3. Thoroughly utilizing market-specific strategies based by country

In order to strategically attract visitors from key markets to Japan, JNTO will accurately grasp the trends in each and conduct detailed promotions based on market-specific strategies. Specifically, in the Asian sector, since Japan is already well known as a travel destination, detailed promotions tailored to individual travel demands will be implemented. For the European, U.S. and Australian markets, the promotion will focus on appealing to interests such as attractive activities.

4. Bolstering dissemination of regional tourism offerings

Consultations will be made to improve the quality of local attractions to meet post- COVID-19 demands and to advertise these regional offerings according to the needs of each market in order to interest tourists.

5. Strengthening digital marketing

The foundations of digital marketing will be strengthened through collecting and analyzing the information obtained by foreign tourists from websites, etc. to effectively develop promotions.

The initiatives introduced in the previous section are only a small part of the budgeted projects scheduled for the next fiscal year. The overall basic policy for next year's budget is to do its utmost to maintain employment and continue business operations, and to provide support for thorough measures that prevent the spread of infection.

At the same time, the government will revitalize tourist attractions by renewing accommodation facilities and removing abandoned buildings, refine local tourism resources through cooperation with various stakeholders, and stimulate travel demand by supporting local tourism businesses. In the next fiscal year, it is necessary to realize a full-scale recovery of tourism that supports the local economy with an eye on the time post-COVID-19 virus, while taking all possible measures to ensure the survival of tourism areas and industries that are in danger. In addition, promotion of these efforts will continue, as well as those to increase the number of mid- to long-term visitors and repeat visitors, and content that will become the signature products of profitable regions will be created.

In addition, necessary measures to cope with the COVID-19 virus will be considered in the budgeting process, taking into account the future infection situation and trends in tourism demand. The Go To campaign promoting domestic tourism, which was introduced in this journal last year, is not being considered in the initial budget for the next fiscal year, at least at this point. To read last year's article, please click here: JITTI Journal- November 2020 Feature Article.

Efforts and Challenges toward the Realization of a Tourism-oriented Nation Microsoft Word - 20130701048.docx ( sangiin.go.jp )

A Study on the Changes in Japan's Inbound Tourism Policy

268407547.pdf ( core.ac.uk )

Japan Tourism Agency

訪日外国人旅行者数・出国日本人数 | 統計情報 | 統計情報・白書 | 観光庁 ( mlit.go.jp )

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Japan tourism agency picks model areas aiming to address overtourism

Tourists crowd Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in February.

The Japan Tourism Agency has selected 20 areas to implement model projects aimed at addressing challenges related to overtourism — a surge in tourists that negatively impacts the lives of local residents and the natural environment.

The areas include Niseko in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, Tokyo's Asakusa, the city of Kyoto and Iriomote Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

In Niseko, which attracts many skiers from overseas, a plan is being considered to allow taxis from outside the area to operate to help address that lack of transport options.

Asakusa is expected to take steps to disperse crowds at popular tourist spots. On Iriomote Island, areas with restricted access will be introduced to protect the natural environment.

In the ancient capital of Kyoto, the city office is considering establishing express buses to take visitors to popular sightseeing spots almost directly from its main train station to reduce crowding on city buses and stress on local residents. The local government has said it is looking to introduce "a sightseeing express bus" in June that can travel to major tourism sites such as Kiyomizu temple and the geisha district of Gion with fewer stops from Kyoto Station.

While areas in Osaka Prefecture are not included in the 20 areas, the Osaka Prefectural Government said earlier this month that it will consider charging foreign tourists staying in the prefecture with an “entry fee” to combat overtourism. The planned levy is separate from the lodging tax already in place for both domestic and international tourists, and will be used to fund measures against overtourism and keep the streets clean.

If introduced, it would be the first levy of its kind nationwide.

The tourism agency also selected 51 areas, where measures to address overtourism will be implemented without the need to craft specific plans. Expected steps include allowing tourists to leave large luggage at train stations during sightseeing outings and operating shuttle buses to major tourist destinations.

japan tourism goals

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Japan is swamped with tourists. Now visitors are going off the beaten track

Tour operators are touting Japan’s less explored regions as surging visitor numbers put strain on popular sites.

Japan

Tokyo, Japan – When Paul Christie started conducting tours on Japan’s Nakasendo, an old trade route along the post towns of Nagano Prefecture’s Kiso Valley, few travellers frequented the trail.

Christie, who has lived on and off in Japan since the late 1980s, viewed the route as a great opportunity for tourists to see a more authentic side of Japan, allowing them to explore the country’s history, nature and geography on foot.

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Since taking over as CEO of tour operator Walk Japan in 2002, Christie has been on a mission to spread tourists more evenly across the archipelago.

“We’ve been doing this for 20 years and we tend to go to places that are not touristy, so we’re teasing out the interesting parts of Japan,” the United Kingdom native told Al Jazeera.

“This addresses the problems Japan is experiencing with ‘overtourism’.”

Japan

“Overtourism” was a common talking point in Japan’s tourism industry before the COVID-19 pandemic.

After eight consecutive years of inbound growth, Japan received a record 32 million visitors in 2019.

But the rising tide did not raise all boats. Most travellers flocked to the Golden Route, running from Tokyo through the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe conurbation, putting historical districts, Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and popular museums under strain.

Since Japan lifted its pandemic-era border restrictions in October last year, concerns about unsustainable tourism have returned.

Visitors have rushed back in droves: 2.3 million foreign tourists arrived in July, the highest figure for any month since 2019.

China’s decision last month to lift its three-year ban on group tours to Japan is expected to result in a further spike in arrivals.

In 2019, 9.2 million Chinese tourists travelled to Japan, accounting for nearly one-third of all visitors, spending 1.8 trillion yen ($12.2bn) in the process.

“Our head office is located in the centre of Kyoto and we feel there are as many tourists as before COVID,” Hiroshi Kawaguchi, the general manager at tour operator Oku Japan, told Al Jazeera.

“This is a similar situation where major sightseeing spots are overcrowded and public buses are lining up.”

Though Kawaguchi says his company’s vision is not focused on alleviating overtourism, Oku Japan’s business model is attuned to such concerns.

“The main part of our itineraries are off the beaten track,” Kawaguchi told Al Jazeera.

“More importantly, every tour we offer includes the element of community interactions… We call these experiences fureai, and this is particularly important not only for the enjoyment of clients but also the local community.”

Japan

Tour operators focused on less-explored regions also believe in the power of tourism to have a positive impact on rural communities and spur chiho-sosei, or regional revitalisation.

In 2007, Walk Japan launched the Community Project to reinvigorate two neighbouring valleys on the Kunisaki Peninsula, where the company is based.

Alongside conducting group tours in the region, Walk Japan carries out development projects, from helping local farmers cultivate rice and shiitake mushrooms, to providing English education for schoolchildren and refurbishing old buildings.

Revitalisation is “part of the company DNA,” Christie said.

“We want to provide an example of what’s possible and perhaps inspire others.”

As Japan’s population greys, many small villages are on the brink of extinction. For such communities, tourism can be a welcome and much-needed rejuvenating force.

“With the right support, some communities genuinely want [tourists] to experience their hospitality and their local lifestyles and find out about their region, as long as they aren’t overwhelmed by visitors and the quality of life isn’t degraded,” Alex Bradshaw, founder and chief consultant at travel and tourism consultancy Gotoku, told Al Jazeera.

“Even if a village doesn’t survive into the future, the fact that it’s been remembered by somebody is incredibly powerful; that people lived here and they had this lifestyle and we shared a little time together. That kind of human interaction is very important.”

Japan

Overtourism is not restricted to Japan’s urban areas.

Rural World Heritage sites, subtropical islands, popular hiking trails and national parks have also been negatively affected.

Fuji-Hakone-Izu, for example, receives nearly half of all national park visitors in Japan, owing to its proximity to Tokyo and as the site of Mount Fuji.

Michelle Lyons, founder of Point North, a specialist branding firm supporting businesses passionate about Japanese culture, is working on a campaign to spread tourism – and its economic benefits – more equitably among Japan’s 34 national parks.

“I wanted to find a way to promote all the parks as though it’s a network of destinations that are all equal to each other,” Lyons told Al Jazeera.

“And by presenting them in this way I’m hoping the more popular parks will help raise the profile of the less popular parks.”

Lyons is developing collectable pins and patches for each park and a trading card game. She wants these collectable souvenirs to showcase the individual merits of each park and serve as educational tools.

“The management of the parks is really fragmented, so it’s difficult for them to coordinate their efforts… There needs to be a series of different solutions that creates value for the unique groups involved; a blanket approach isn’t going to work,” she said.

“In terms of increasing expenditure in the parks, gift shops could play a big part in that if they’re more strategic with what they’re selling, and think about what tourists actually want and find appealing.”

Stereotypical images

It’s a common refrain in the industry that Japan does not understand how to market itself to foreign travellers but Bradshaw thinks Western media is also at fault for presenting stereotypical images of the country.

“I see how Japan is presented and I’m kind of confused by it. I just wonder what part of Japan that is, because they do rely on the kitsch, the odd side of it, or culture tropes… It’s all maid cafés, geisha, tea ceremonies and ninja,” he said.

“It would be my hope that people would find a deeper side of Japan. But I understand why that is difficult for the tourism industry as well. When you’ve got to prioritise what sells as opposed to what’s authentic and necessarily good for regional communities.”

Some areas have implemented initiatives to specifically tackle overcrowding.

Kyoto, known as Japan’s cultural capital, is set to abolish its One-Day Bus Pass for tourists, sales of which will cease in October.

Iriomote, widely feted as the most beautiful of the Ryukyu Islands, has limited the number of daily visitors to 1,200.

In Yamanashi Prefecture, the local government has considered restricting the number of hikers on Mt Fuji’s Yoshida trail if it becomes too congested.

Last month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that the government would devise nationwide countermeasures to mitigate overtourism this autumn.

koyo

Kumi Kato, a tourism professor at Wakayama and Musashino universities, said the government has made moves in the right direction – such as organising cross-ministry meetings on spreading the benefits of tourism – but there is much work to be done.

“Destination wellbeing should be the goal and benchmarking concept,” Kato told Al Jazeera.

“Promoting the night and early morning economy and secondary destinations will disperse tourism into regional areas but that alone cannot lead to successful regional tourism.”

“It’s critical that the target should be clearly set… high-end tourists, or tourists with wealth, are often talked about, but it should not be misunderstood that only wealthy tourists are valuable,” Kato added.

“Value should be added to high-quality products and authentic experiences [which will] raise visitor spending rather than increase numbers. The government does set a target stay – number of days – and spending per visitor, but strategically ‘what kind of tourists’ should be clearer.”

Can inbound tourism fuel Japan’s economic growth?

Japan’s inbound tourism grew by 33 percent a year from 2011 to 2015—among the fastest rates in the world. Yet tourism still represents just 0.5 percent of the country’s GDP, significantly lower than for popular Asian destinations such as Thailand (10.4 percent) and developed countries such as France (2.4 percent) and the United States (1.3 percent). The biggest problems? Too few non-Asian international visitors; too many tourists concentrating on the major cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo; and significant capacity constraints with regard to accommodation and transportation.

Japan’s leaders are aware of the problem, as well as the opportunity. Recognizing that inbound tourism could be a powerful economic engine, they have set an aspirational target to double annual inbound tourism to 40.0 million visitors in 2020, from 19.7 million in 2015, increasing total inbound-tourism revenue to ¥8.0 trillion ($79.0 billion), from ¥3.5 trillion, over the same period. Indeed, we believe the country’s tourism industry is at an inflection point where an effective strategy to attract international tourists could have an outsize impact for years to come. Our new report, The future of Japan’s tourism: Path for sustainable growth towards 2020 (PDF–2.08MB), investigates the challenges and potential impact of several initiatives that address obstacles to realizing the country’s inbound-tourism goals.

Tackling three major challenges

Although Japan is the world’s third-largest economy—trailing only the United States and China—it remains a mystery to many tourists. While hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide a global platform to showcase its people, culture, and landmarks, action is required now. For the tourism industry to overcome barriers and achieve its target of doubling annual inbound tourism by 2020, the country’s public and private sectors must come together to address three primary issues:

  • The lack of non-Asian visitors. International travelers are attracted to destinations for many reasons, including iconic sites, proximity, and familiarity. Yet Japan has a significant imbalance in its portfolio of visitors: non-Asian visitors accounted for just 16 percent of international tourists to Japan in 2015. The country struggles to convert interest from Western tourists into actual visits, especially when compared with visitors from other Asian nations (exhibit). That may be partly because Western visitors simply aren’t sure what they can see in Japan, even though they profess interest in the country’s major tourism assets once informed about them.
  • Skewed regional distribution. Three prefectures—Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo—dominate visitor itineraries, accounting for 48 percent of tourist stays. These three major cities account for 60 percent of inbound-tourism expenditures, despite comprising only 28 percent of the Japan’s GDP. This suggests a sizable opportunity for the country’s other regions.
  • Capacity constraints. Accommodations and infrastructure in major Japanese cities are already stretched. In fact, demand simulations for 2020 indicate the country may face an accommodation shortage of up to 50 percent in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, as well as an air-capacity overflow of up to 30 percent for Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports.

Would you like to learn more about our Travel, Logistics & Transport Infrastructure Practice ?

Correcting Japan’s visitor-portfolio imbalance and skewed regional distribution requires addressing several root causes, including a perception of high cost, low awareness of tourism assets, and a limited service model in local regions. The common challenge is that cooperation between the public and private sectors in many areas—for example, aggregating tourism data and providing an end-to-end experience—is limited, if not nonexistent.

To succeed in meeting the country’s goals for inbound tourism, a public–private partnership (PPP) should be established, modeled on global best practices. Once formed, the PPP should pursue a road map built around five levers:

  • Strengthen the Japanese destination-management-organization (DMO) model. Japan’s 80 DMO candidates can be expanded to deliver even greater impact, strengthening the service model in local regions.
  • Build a platform to support tourists’ end-to-end customer experience. An integrated online data platform could serve as a mechanism to capture and analyze information about tourists, including purchasing behaviors and preferences. These data could be used to offer a rich, personalized customer experience.
  • Support hotels and sightseeing spots in building inbound-tourism capabilities. Many hotels and tourism assets would benefit greatly from support by related businesses and government agencies to address issues such as the language barrier and inefficient purchase processes.
  • Embed foreign visitors’ viewpoints in marketing and promotion. Members of the PPP, including the Japan National Tourism Organization and Japan Tourism Agency—which both employ nearly 100 percent Japanese staff—should ensure the viewpoints of tourists are sought out when designing and implementing marketing and promotions.
  • Enhance online promotion to make tourists ambassadors. Japan can ensure its online portal showcases its tourism assets as effectively as possible and offers opportunities for the collection and dissemination of word-of-mouth praise.

By bringing stakeholders together through a public–private partnership, Japan can make progress in increasing its attractiveness to many different traveler segments while also addressing the underlying obstacles to growth in inbound tourism. The conditions and timing are right to launch the country into the top tier of tourism-oriented destinations—it just needs coordinated, strategic action.

The_future_of_Japan_1536x1536_Original

How a private-sector transformation could revive Japan

Download the full report on which this article is based, The future of Japan’s tourism: Path for sustainable growth towards 2020 (PDF–2.08MB).

André Andonian is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Tokyo office , where Ryo Ishida is a consultant, Tasuku Kuwabara , is a partner, and Naomi Yamakawa is an associate partner.

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japan tourism goals

2024 TOKYO E-PRIX

An exhilarating car race you won’t want to miss

Veronica Carnevale

Tickets for the 2024 Tokyo E-Prix are sold out. Find out ways you can still watch the race .

Car enthusiasts unite! Formula E is coming to Tokyo.

Formula E, officially called ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is the world’s first all-electric international single-seater championship. This innovative competition is not only a thrilling event but also addresses sustainable mobility, with the goal of using the race as a means to develop and test future technologies.

  • Edge-of-your-seat racing with record-breaking acceleration and non-stop action around Tokyo Big Sight
  • Pre- and post-race music performances featuring Sully, NOA, and YOU MATSUZAKI
  • Interactive experiences, performances, autograph sessions, and more at Allianz Fan Village

The 2024 Tokyo E-Prix will take place on a track built around Tokyo Big Sight . On race day (March 30, 2024), the venue will open at 7am, allowing ticket holders to watch the practice race (7:55am-8:45am) and qualifying race (10:20am–11:43am) before the main event at 3pm.

  • View the venue map
  • View the event schedule

Additional events at the Allianz Fan Village

Aside from the race, the venue will also host an exciting festival at the Allianz Fan Village, which is free to enter. Here, you can enjoy live music before and after the race, as well as Formula E simulators, a wide range of food and beverages, and autograph opportunities! The 2024 Tokyo E-Prix is even collaborating with Pokemon, so the event will offer a variety of activities related to the beloved characters.

Please note that the Allianz Fan Village is only open to ticket holders.

  • View the event information

Find out more about Tokyo Big Sight .

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By Veronica Carnevale

Japan Travel Staff

2024 TOKYO E-PRIX

Information

Saturday - March 30th 2024

Time: 07:00 - 17:05

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3-11-1 Ariake, Koto City, Tokyo 35-0063 ( Map ) ( Directions )

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  15. Hopes and Fears with the Restart of Inbound Tourism

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    Japan will reinstate visa-free travel on October 11 for travelers from more than 68 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Singapore, Thailand and more. If a passport holder a country on the visa-waiver list, you won't need a visa to travel to Japan if you're staying for less than 90 days.

  17. Japan to focus on rebound tourism

    Japan to focus on rebound tourism. Japan is aiming to recover inbound tourism to its 2019-level by 2025 and is maintaining its long-held goal of welcoming 60 million international visitors by 2030. The ambitious plan, released by the Japan Tourism Agency, includes targets to revitalise regional areas through tourism and to increase foreign ...

  18. Overview of the Japanese Government's Tourism Policy for Foreign Tourists

    The number of foreign visitors to Japan has been steadily increasing since 2003. In 2008 the Japan Tourism Agency was newly established as a bureau under MLIT, and in 2016 the government set a goal of achieving 40 million foreign visitors to Japan annually by 2020, further strengthening the system to achieve the aim of becoming a tourism-oriented country.

  19. Japan tourism agency picks model areas aiming to address overtourism

    The Japan Tourism Agency has selected 20 areas to implement model projects aimed at addressing challenges related to overtourism — a surge in tourists that negatively impacts the lives of local ...

  20. Travel Japan

    The official site of Japan National Tourism Organization is your ultimate Japan guide with tourist information for Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hokkaido and other top Japan holiday destinations. We offer travel information to make your Japan travel more comfortable and enjoyable.

  21. Japan is swamped with tourists. Now visitors are going off the beaten

    In 2019, 9.2 million Chinese tourists travelled to Japan, accounting for nearly one-third of all visitors, spending 1.8 trillion yen ($12.2bn) in the process. "Our head office is located in the ...

  22. Can inbound tourism fuel Japan's economic growth?

    Japan's leaders are aware of the problem, as well as the opportunity. Recognizing that inbound tourism could be a powerful economic engine, they have set an aspirational target to double annual inbound tourism to 40.0 million visitors in 2020, from 19.7 million in 2015, increasing total inbound-tourism revenue to ¥8.0 trillion ($79.0 billion ...

  23. Tourism in Japan

    Tourism in Japan. Tourism in Japan is a major industry and contributor to the Japanese economy. Foreigners visit Japan to see natural wonders, cities, historic landmarks, and entertainment venues. Japanese people seek similar attractions, as well as recreation and vacation areas. In 2019, Japan attracted 31.88 million international tourists. [1]

  24. Japan, ASEAN outline tourism goals

    The pledge came during the October 28 ASEAN-Japan Tourism Ministers' Special Dialogue, held in the Japanese capital Tokyo to commemorate the 50th year of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation. The dialogue was held under the theme "The next 50 years of ASEAN and Japan: designing the path to sustainable tourism together".

  25. 2024 TOKYO E-PRIX 2024

    The race. The 2024 Tokyo E-Prix will take place on a track built around Tokyo Big Sight.On race day (March 30, 2024), the venue will open at 7am, allowing ticket holders to watch the practice race (7:55am-8:45am) and qualifying race (10:20am-11:43am) before the main event at 3pm.