The Potential of Micro-tourism and the Power of Local Regions

2020/12/18

Is everyone taking advantage of the Go To Campaign?

The tourism industry, which was heavily damaged by the impact of COVID-19, is seeing tourists return to local regions, perhaps thanks to this campaign. However, vaccines are not yet complete, and the number of infected people continues to increase worldwide. Among tourism operators concerned about the infection and spread of the virus, there may be some who cannot bring themselves to loudly say, "Please come to our town."

The reason COVID-19 spread on a global scale is precisely because humans have become able to move on a global scale. While the tourism industry and "movement" are inseparable, I would like to consider what "tourism" actually is in the first place.

According to one theory, tourism (kanko) is said to mean "seeing the light (hikari) of the region." "Light" refers to wisdom. According to this theory, distance is irrelevant.

Tourism that does not involve going far is called "micro-tourism," a concept advocated by Yoshiharu Hoshino of Hoshino Resorts.

You might wonder what is interesting about traveling through your familiar hometown, but just as Tokyoites rarely go to Tokyo Tower, people often fail to look at what is right beneath their feet.

In Ureshino City, Saga Prefecture, there is a project where young business owners gathered to turn local industries into tourism content. It is called "Ureshino Chadoki." Although it was intended for locals, it received high praise from citizens and eventually began to attract tourists from across the country and overseas. Furthermore, it came to be handled not only as a request for store openings from famous hotels and commercial facilities in Ginza and Roppongi but also as content for travel agencies. Now, they even receive production requests from other regions.

They collaborated on the city's major industries: porcelain called "Hizen Yoshida-yaki," tea called "Ureshino-cha," and "Ureshino Onsen," which is said to be one of Japan's three best hot springs for beautiful skin. The core of this, "Ureshino Saryo," is a stylish-looking Japanese tea cafe, but its organizational structure has unique characteristics.

The ones providing the tea and sweets are the pottery kilns and tea farmers. Ryokan (inn) owners with a discerning eye and good taste were in charge of space production and customer service training for the kiln owners and craftsmen who had no service experience. The website and posters were created by designers from the local area. It is said that everyone worked almost entirely on a pro bono basis.

The menu consists of "Ureshino-cha" and Japanese sweets, which are everyday items for locals. However, the price is 800 yen, nearly three times the usual price. Despite the high cost, citizens flocked to this event. In a space stylishly renovated with Scandinavian furniture in the ryokan's post-bath relaxation area, tea farmers and kiln owners wearing pure white long aprons knelt before guests and poured tea into delicate wine glasses. Their appearance was exactly like that of staff at a luxury hotel.

The explanations of the products' craftsmanship and characteristics, which were refined through repeated training and creative communication, also resulted in increasing their value. For the citizens, even the tea and vessels that were a common presence were hardly known in terms of who made them, how, and with what thoughts. While receiving high-quality service in a space different from home, they engaged in unknown conversations with the craftsmen. It was the moment when familiar things became special.

The high praise from citizens quickly reached Tokyo, and it developed to the point of attracting attention not only from the metropolitan area but also from around the world.

I believe there are two points of success. One is the collaboration between different industries. Even in the same city, if the industry is different, one is an outsider. They were able to objectively see what was attractive and what was lacking in each other's work, and that is precisely why they were able to support one another. While some say that the charm of a region can only be understood by outsiders, that is not necessarily the case.

The other point is the production of the "extraordinary." While urban things are not necessarily better, for citizens living in a tea-producing area, tea drunk from a wine glass, a stylish space, and sophisticated service are full of a sense of specialness. An "extraordinary experience" is very important for travel.

The catalyst for this project was a sense of problem among business owners: "Despite being a tea-producing area, there is no place in town to drink tea. Ryokan staff cannot even brew tea properly. Is this okay?" Perhaps the citizens felt the same way.

Through this initiative, citizens learned about local specialties and talked about them to others. In addition to local media and stakeholders, even the citizens became public relations agents for Ureshino City.

I believe that micro-tourism ultimately enhances regional culture and, by extension, Japan's tourism strength. If attractive content increases throughout Japan, domestic travel demand will also grow. If that happens, inbound demand will naturally follow.

I believe that the sustainable development of the tourism economy that Japan aims for starts first from the local level.