Japan gears up to lure wealthy foreign tourists to regional areas

20 comments

1. Still waiting for them to gear up to let my dad come visit his grandson ffs.

   Edit: Thanks for the heads up! He told me he called them. He either didn’t actually call them or didn’t explain himself properly. I will get it sorted. Cheers.

2. Ah yes, nothing lets the rich show off their wealth like 7 days in Gunma. All the fancy restaurants, luxury resorts, and things to do…

3. Hmm. Well the wealthy aren’t really very well behaved so what could possibly go wrong in a country like Japan.

4. They can do this. Japan can make this happen.

   BUT

   They need to stop developing these tourism programs based solely on Japanese travel concepts, or at best the polite approval of a few token foreigners brought in at the end for a trial run and photoshoot.

   Let us foreigner tourism experts be a part of the development process from day one. We know the industry. We know the guests. We are foreigners too! Let us share with you how foreigners travel, what they want to see, and what they DON’T want to do. We can make this work for you. We can make these destinations shine. It’s not racist to say that Japanese can’t do this on their own. They can, but it won’t be as good as if we do it together. We can rock this shit and get people out into the inaka. I *KNOW* we can.

   I’ve been on SO MANY of these fam trips and inspections for these kinds of projects that are just a massive wastes of money developing places that are not appropriate for foreigners to visit. Lack of accommodations, lack of sightseeing, lack of anything interesting for 99% of foreigners. It drives me nuts.

   Fuck, someone hire me!

5. Trying to reinvent the wheel… What they had before worked. It was popular. You don’t need to channel tourists into certain parts of your country, you just need to let them them INTO your country.

6. In groups.. nothing worse then a group of wealthy people.

7. They’re not going to lure anyone with North Korea style tours.

8. Who are these wealthy tourists prioritizing visiting Nagoya and why? I mean, that’s not to say there’s nothing worth seeing in and around Nagoya, but it’s not exactly a Top 3 Japanese city to visit for any travelers I know.

9. lol not going to happen

10. Let me in, let me innnnnnnnnnnn

11. **Just a note, this program has been in the works since at LEAST last year, and has less to do with the guided tours expected for the 10th and beyond, and more to do with reaching the 60 million mark they’ve set for themselves for 2025.**

12. This sounds creepy. Are they going to offer candy at least?

13. [deleted]

14. Nice I’m already a foreigner just got to work on the wealthy part.

    In $ How much we talking a mil?

15. Isn’t being lured to an isolated area one of the things most embassies warn wealthy tourists *against*.

16. First time tourists will always visit the three popular areas, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka/Kyoto. The problem is how to entice them to come back to checkout the other areas ? Rich Chinese especially, they don’t come seeking quiet resort in the middle of mountains with nothing to do but onsen, they want shopping, instagram – or whatever it is China uses – pictures, more shopping, and more instagram pictures.

17. Three years to work with scholars and professionals in the field of tourism to develop new plans, ideas and solutions. And yet…..

18. You mean the towns run by deadbeat, morally bankrupt oji-san who have driven the town finances into the ground and have not a single measurable atom of civic pride?

    Fat chance Japan. There’s a reason you’re giving land and houses away.

19. As an American who loves visiting Karuizawa, I am confident that 99 percent of wealthy American tourists would find it pointless and boring. No one speaks English, most of the restaurants are German, French, or Italian, and all of the shops close at 6 p.m.

20. Good luck trying to get them to come in on a group tour..