Creating repeat visitors

The keynote speech given by Kosuke Motani focused on the potential for promoting tourism in Japan’s rural areas, and important points to consider. “Inbound tourism is expected to become an ¥8 trillion ($55 billion) market this year, and it will continue to grow,” Motani said.

But he also warned that it can easily fluctuate due to factors such as natural disasters, pandemics and international conflicts. “The tourism sector needs to survive the bad times by relying on the cash accumulated during the good times,” he said, adding that the way to secure high profits is to increase sales per person by focusing on those who are enthusiastic and well-off.

He said rural depopulation will not hinder that strategy: “This is entirely possible and sustainable to do in small communities if they can make high-value products locally.” By “products” he means not just food and drink, but also accommodation, activities, places to visit — everything that one can experience in a community. He added that it is also important to try to understand which of an area’s charms actually attract visitors rather than just be features that locals want to promote.

Another key factor for success in tourism is to increase repeat visitors. “I believe that the biggest motivation for a person to revisit a place is a desire to reexperience an encounter,” he said. An inspirational, one-of-a-kind experience — whether involving a person or a place — gives a person a powerful reason to come again.

As for increasing the number of long-term guests, Motani emphasized the need for places where they can live like locals do, blending in with the community.

Though depopulation and aging are the general trend in rural areas across the country, Motani said populations are growing in places that are successful in making such efforts and in circulating profits from tourism within the community.