Japan Using British Model To Draw Tourists

Above, the Shin-Saikai Bridge at the Hario Straits in Kyushu. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japanese tourism industry is continuing to find new strategies for drawing tourists to places "off the beaten track."

The latest is that they appear to be following the model by VisitBritain.

According to an article in Japan Today:

TOKYO —Promote regional gems: that is one of the strategies being adopted by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) to attract more inbound visitors. The approach is in striking synergy with plans, unveiled by VisitBritain in February, encouraging tourists to get off the beaten track and explore the length and breadth of the UK. Ryoichi Matsuyama, president of JNTO, wants tourists to journey beyond the “Golden Route” of Tokyo and Kyoto. 

“We have so many hidden treasures across Japan as you know, but they are not so well promoted or understood”, Matsuyama told the audience at a BCCJ luncheon at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo hotel. “We have to cultivate hidden regional tourism resources”.
This push will include increasing promotion of the country as a skiing and snowboarding destination, due to its quality powder snow. 

Part of the reasoning behind this strategy, said Matsuyama, is to provide relief for hotels in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, which currently have an occupancy rate of more than 80%.

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