Japan is gearing up to attract affluent tourists to lesser-known destinations, offering opportunities for an authentic experience of culture, craftsmanship and nature as a record number of foreign travelers come to the country.

The number of inbound travelers surpassed pre-pandemic levels for a sixth consecutive month in March, during which they spent an average of ¥209,000 ($1,340) per person per stay. Now, the tourism agency wants to get inbound tourists to increase their spending by altering how they travel.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) aims to increase the number of "luxury tourists" — defined as those who spend more than ¥1 million per person during their stay.

In 2019, this demographic comprised just 1% of overall visitors but they contributed to 14% of total spending.

“From the perspective of increasing consumption in rural regions, we want to strategically attract visitors by refining the content we offer and building networks through which we can promote businesses,” said JNTO director Rieko Nakayama.

Added Ryo Ito, a JNTO official in charge of the promotion of luxury tourism, “These luxury tourists tend to have high levels of curiosity and are interested in authentic experiences that are unique to specific areas, which goes hand in hand with (our goal of) promoting rural tourism."

“However, there are still some issues that need to be addressed in attracting visitors to these rural areas.”

While there is a lot of hidden potential in rural areas, they need support in order to make them marketable and accessible to tourists, as well as profitable for locals, particularly since businesses in these regions tend to be short on staff.

JNTO has identified four areas in which support is needed:

  • marketability: content unique to the area needs to be refined in ways that would help it attract high-end tourists.
  • accommodation: luxury hotels need to be built where there is a shortage.
  • human resources: tour guides and hospitality workers need to be hired ahead of the arrival of tourists.
  • connections: networks need to be established with overseas companies to get information about local attractions out to prospective tourists.

Even though many rural areas want to attract more high-end tourists, most of them don’t have sufficient means or the right infrastructure to do so.

Being aware of the problems that such rural areas face, the government began efforts to tackle these issues by first designating 11 model tourism destinations across the nation last year, including the Hokuriku region and the southern islands of Okinawa and Amami.

In February, JNTO invited 32 foreign travel companies that cater to affluent tourists to meet with 40 domestic luxury hotels and destination management companies to showcase what Japan's towns and villages can offer.

Feedback from the foreign travel companies who were taken on a familiarization trip to some of the areas within the 11 destinations — from Kanazawa and Fukui prefectures to the Setouchi inland sea area — showed keen interest.

The most popular activities were ones that included interaction with resident professionals such as traditional craftsmen in the Hokuriku area, demonstrating that local connections may just be the key selling point for Japan's luxury tourism push.