Today, the world is facing a variety of problems such as climate change and food crisis. We invite experts from various fields to discuss the current situation and solutions to these problems with Ms. Marika Sera, a university student and TV personality who is eager to “learn more about the world! and university student and TV personality Marika Sera, who is eager to “learn more about the world,” together with invited guests who are experts in various fields, will discuss the current situation and solutions to such problems. The theme of the third session is “Global Tourism Development. We interviewed Mr. Noriaki Nishiyama, Professor at Hokkaido University’s Center for Advanced Study of Tourism, and Mr. Yoshito Urano, Deputy Director of JICA’s Tanzania Office, who has been involved in tourism development for many years.
From left to right: Mr. Noriaki Nishiyama, Mr. Yoshito Urano, Deputy Director General, Ms. Marika Sera, and Mr. Tsunaki Ito, JICA Public Relations Department
Japan ranked No. 1 in the world in terms of tourism competitiveness in 2021
Marika Sera (Sera) Japan ranked first in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Travel and Tourism Development Index 2021, which is a ranking of tourism competitiveness.
Yoshito Urano, Deputy Director, JICA Tanzania Office (hereinafter referred to as “Urano”) The ranking of tourism competitiveness is based on about 100 items, so it is important to develop tourism in a balanced manner. Japan is an island nation, so there are no contiguous continental borders like in Europe and Africa. Because of the difficulty of travel, tourism in island countries is basically focused on domestic travel. However, tourism resources are naturally limited, and people get bored after visiting the same place once or twice, so it is necessary to develop new tourist attractions. Therefore, every corner of Japan has been turned into a tourist attraction. I also believe that Japan is good at creating new tourism resources from nothing. With these points and others, I believe that Japan was selected as the number one country promoting well-balanced tourism development.
Noriaki Nishiyama, Professor, Hokkaido University (hereinafter Nishiyama) Along with rich natural and cultural resources, safety and security, sanitation, and transportation infrastructure are also highly regarded. And, unfortunately, price competitiveness. The country is also rated highly overall, including such aspects as “the weak yen makes it easy to spend time in Japan.
Urano: This ranking is not based on “countries with a large number of tourists at present,” but also competes on the high potential and sustainability of the tourism industry, i.e., how much the tourism industry will grow in the future. Japan’s strengths, as mentioned by Dr. Nishiyama, have been evaluated as having very high potential for the tourism industry in the future. Governments of developing countries also look at this ranking, and since Japan has been ranked high in this ranking, there seems to be an increasing need to “learn tourism from Japan”.
JICA has been supporting tourism development in four areas since the 1980s. The second is “human resource development. The second is “human resources development,” which includes training hotel employees, assisting in the skill development of tourist guides, and advising government tourism officials. We not only support promotional measures to attract tourists, but also prepare the receiving side for what kind of PR they will do for tourists. And the fourth is “tourism infrastructure development. We support the construction of airports, museums, etc., the most famous of which is the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is awaiting its opening.
Nishiyama According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)*1 , the number of international travelers (international tourism arrivals) worldwide was 680 million in 2000, doubling to 1,329 million in 2017 before the Corona, and some predict that it will reach 1.8 billion by 2030. Tourism development is directly related to a country’s economic development, as there are aspects of infrastructure development, such as roads and trains, and the jobs that are created as a result. Have you ever heard of the term “global force”, Mr. Sera?
1 The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will change its name to UN Tourism in January 2024. (This interview was conducted in December 2023.)
Sera I don’t know the details.
Nishiyama: A global force is “a force that changed a century. For example, the global force of the 20th century is “oil. In the 21st century, it is said that it will be “tourism. Since tourism involves people coming and going across national borders, it can be said to be the foundation of security, as people get to know and understand each other’s countries at the grassroots level.
Sera The power of tourism is growing, isn’t it?
Marika Sera, who loves to travel and has been to Kenya and other countries, was born in Kanagawa, Japan in 2002, and started her career in show business in 19 years, working as a model and TV personality. She became the youngest ever “Miss World 2019 Japan” at the age of 16. She is enrolled in the Faculty of Policy Studies at Keio University
Overseas Assistance Provides Hints for Solving Japan’s Overtourism Problem
Urano: Starting in 2019, JICA is supporting tourism development in Chachapoya, a mountainous region in northern Peru where a civilization called Chachapoya flourished. Peru currently attracts tourists to Machu Picchu, Nazca, and Cusco in the south, but if tourism development in the north is also promoted, it will lead to balanced development.
A coffin placed on a precipice in the Utukbamba Valley. In the past, people avoided the valley floor where there was a risk of plague and lived in the highlands (on a plateau), so they placed coffins on the precipice where the world of death (under the ground) seemed to be exposed and took the form of a belief that the dead would watch over them (courtesy of Mr. Noriaki Nishiyama). The Chachapoya culture developed in the Utcubamba Valley of the Andes mountains in northern Peru between the 5th and 15th centuries. The ruins of Kuelap, which rise on a plateau 3,000 meters above sea level, were the center of this belief (courtesy of Mr. Noriaki Nishiyama).
Urano: The Peruvian government initially asked us, “We want to develop a different area because Machu Picchu in the south has too many tourists and the satisfaction level of visitors is declining. Japan has been developing tourism in a well-balanced manner, and they asked us to support them by utilizing our knowledge.
So, just like in the movie Indiana Jones, we went into the jungles of the northern part of the country to conduct a field survey, and what we found were the ruins of the Inca Empire. There were also waterfalls with some of the highest drops in the Americas. The Chachapoya civilization was located in the state of Amazonas, one of the poorest states in Peru, and we realized that tourism development had the potential to revitalize the economy.
Machu Picchu, which attracts many tourists (courtesy of Noriaki Nishiyama)
Yoshito Urano, Deputy Director of JICA Tanzania Office, says he wanted to be Indiana Jones when he was in elementary school. He studied archaeology as a student and worked as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) in Botswana, where he conducted excavations of world heritage sites and worked on site protection activities. He has been in charge of JICA’s tourism development cooperation at the Department of Industrial Development and Public Policy since March 2016, and will assume his current position in April 2022.
Sera This is an exciting story to hear. Is overtourism ever a problem in Japan as it is in Machu Picchu?
Nishiyama: In Kyoto City, for example, there is a problem where citizens cannot ride buses due to the increase in the number of inbound tourists (foreign visitors to Japan). In Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture, when the number of tourists exceeded 1 million, emergency vehicles such as ambulances could not pass through because of heavy traffic congestion.
Crowded Shirakawa-go around 2000, five years after its registration as a World Heritage site (courtesy of Noriaki Nishiyama)
Urano: As tourism development grows, the number of areas that become overtourism will increase. I believe that the support we are providing in Peru could be a hint for solving overtourism in Japan. In the field of tourism in particular, there are many common issues for both Japan and developing countries. We believe that it is very important for Japan, as a developed country, not to unilaterally impart knowledge and experience, but to learn from each other and work together to tackle these issues.
On the other hand, one aspect of “a very fragile industry”
Sera: There was the Corona disaster, but on the other hand, isn’t it risky to depend on tourism?
Nishiyama: The important thing is not to rely too heavily on tourism. Of the tourists, 20% are business-related, and the remaining 80% are regular tourists. Therefore, if something like Corona happens, people will stop coming at once, and it is a very fragile industry. So it is important not to rely too much on it. In developing countries, they do what they have done for a living to survive, and they also get involved in tourism. So we have the ability to be prepared for emergencies. In this respect, I think we have a lot to learn from developing countries.
Noriaki Nishiyama Noriaki says that in the future, tourism will expand and become influential in various industries, forcing all kinds of people to get involved. Professor at the Center for Advanced Study of Tourism, Hokkaido University. He is an expert on international cooperation in tourism development. Specializes in architecture and urban planning, tourism, and cultural heritage management. Currently developing international cooperation in Fiji, Jordan, Peru, and other countries.
Urano: Preparedness is extremely important. We are beginning to work with the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) to create a “crisis management plan” to determine in advance how we will act if something should happen in the future.
Sera What specific measures can be taken?
Urano: The easiest way to understand this is to address reputational damage. For example, if there is an outbreak of Ebola in any part of Africa, the number of tourists on the entire African continent will decrease. But by providing proper information on where in the African continent the outbreak occurred, the negative impact on the tourism industry can be controlled. If we prepare in advance how to disseminate accurate information and how to do so efficiently, our initial response will be quicker when a problem arises.
Tourism also plays a role in women’s social advancement
Tsunaki Ito, JICA Public Relations Department (hereinafter “Ito”): Mr. Sera, you have traveled to six countries in 2023 alone.
Sera: First of all, I will eat the local cuisine. I will also experience some of the famous local activities.
Urano: JICA has an experience program in the ancient city of Salt, Jordan, where we visit the homes of local people and cook and eat local food together.
Tourists experience a cooking class held by a local woman in Salto (part of the photo has been processed) (courtesy of Noriaki Nishiyama).
Urano: Jordan is famous for the Petra Ruins, but the Jordanian government has proposed that Jordan has other attractions and that “tourists should be encouraged to stroll through the historical streets” of the ancient city of Salt. However, just strolling around does not generate economic benefits, so we will consider how to strategically scatter experience-based products throughout the town. It is difficult for Muslim women to work outside the home, but if we offer cooking experiences for tourists, they can earn income. When the father is the breadwinner and the mother wants to buy socks for her children, but the father is against it, she can use the income from the cooking classes she offers to tourists to buy socks for her children. Tourism development encourages women to enter the workforce.
Sera So our tourism is helping local women advance in society.
Urano UNWTO says that “tourism is the only industry that can contribute to all 17 SDG goals”. In this case of Salto, we were able to contribute to “SDG Goal 5: Achieve gender equality” by enabling women to earn income. Currently, JICA is working with UNWTO to create a “toolkit” that is like a dictionary for tourism projects. For example, if it is “women’s social advancement,” various examples are listed in the SDG 5 section of the toolkit, which can be used as a reference or to establish indicators. This is something that can also be used for tourism development in Japan.
Sera How do you see the future of tourism changing?
Nishiyama: In the future, tourism will no longer be something special, and people all over the world will travel as a matter of course, regardless of whether they are in developing or developed countries. I believe that we are entering an era in which tourism will expand, with people from all industries developing their own industries through tourism.
Urano: I believe that tourism will become an increasingly important industry, and JICA will continue to support tourism development in developing countries on a global scale, while also working to apply its knowledge to tourism development in Japan.
Sera: It is important to share our knowledge with each other, regardless of whether we are in a developing or developed country. I also agree that “balanced tourism development” is important. From now on, I would like to visit not only famous tourist attractions but also seek out places that are not yet known.
© Source JICA
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.