On July 26, 2019, I joined the Symposium “Sustainable Tourism in Japan: Beyond Numbers” to write an article about what was discussed there.
Asia Pacific Initiative and Social Innovation Japan co-hosted the “Sustainable Tourism in Japan: Beyond Numbers” on July 26, 2019 at the Nagatacho GRiD in Tokyo. The government has set targets to welcome 40 million visitors through the so-called inbound tourism by 2020 and 60 million visitors by 2030. In relation to this, it is vital to prepare an environment where visitors to Japan can travel comfortably, and at the same time realize sustainability in tourism by working towards the natural resource preservation of the travel destinations and maintaining the sustainable living of the local residents. As part of this effort four entrepreneurs shared their unique and innovative hints and ideas.
Last year in the light of the Tokyo Olympics, “inbound” was an extremely timely subject in Japan. Due to unforeseen emergency situations, the Olympics was postponed till next year 2021, however, I would like to relook at this topic, covering the preparation for the Olympics in 2021 and whether there are any solutions for the recovery of the inbound traffic.