A virtual experience in the era of a global pandemic

 

The COVID-19 pandemic had and is having a serious impact on the tourism industry worldwide. Japan is no exception. 

 

In 2019, the country welcomed 14.6 million international tourists, arriving by air or by sea, making it the seventh most visited country in the world. Marking a steady increase in visits year after year, and with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics coming up, it seemed as though nothing was stopping the archipelago from beating its own record in 2020. Consulting agency Mizuho Research Institute predicted that some 35 million tourists would grace the nation’s shores this Olympic year.

 

That was, of course, until the pandemic hit. 

 

With entry restrictions put into place, visiting Japan was rendered difficult if not impossible for many foreigners. It was an unexpected blow for the tourism industry, who had been bracing for a wave of inbound visitors in 2020 by investing in renovations and employment. 

 

How can the nation’s tourism industry, described as “extremely severe,” (source in Japanese) in 2021, resume its activities? One possibility may be smart tourism. 

 

Smart tourism can be defined as tourism that employs technology and collects/utilises data of tourists and sites and creates new values and technologies. It takes into account virtues such as accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, and cultural heritage, as the European Commission set out in its initiative European Capitals of Smart Tourism.”

 

For more insight on the definition and foundation of smart tourism, consult: “Smart tourism: foundations and developments” 

 

Here are some of the examples of Japan’s smart tourism initiatives, specifically those that can be enjoyed without setting foot in the country. 

 

  • Pre-recorded VR videos

Numerous video recordings have been made available by JNTO, the national tourism bureau. 

 

 

The Japan Heritage site offers several more of such VR videos, where viewers are allowed a 360-degree vision of the video. 

 

  • Virtual tours and workshops

Municipalities, companies, and individuals have begun hosting castle visits and cultural workshops over Zoom. A Buddhist monk shares his meditation routine as a tour guide, Jeff, shows the nooks and marvels of Odawara Castle. Tourism agencies such as Japonisme have moved from providing physical tours to online ones.

 

Such initiatives may not supplement the loss in revenue caused by the pandemic, however that is not their aim. Many see this new form of tourism as a sort of advertisement for potential visitors and to incite them to physically visit these locations once travel restrictions are lifted. For the moment, Japan’s initiatives seem to be limited to providing VR- and live-resources. 

 

781 million JPY has been allotted for the fiscal year 2022 for the Japan Tourism Agency to promote digital transformation (Source in Japanese). The Agency has in mind the creation of new values in the tourism industry that consist of a hybrid of digital technologies (such as VR, AR or 5G) and pre-existing tourism resources. It also plans to make use of various data (in a sense, big data), to streamline transport and sightseeing in touristic sites. Such digital transformation is in line with the nation-wide DX (digital transformation) policy. 

 

The focus of the Japan Tourism Agency seems to be on post-pandemic tourism rather than tourism during the pandemic era and sees this current period as a “preparation period”. 

 

The current pandemic will likely end one day, and travel restrictions will at least lax, if not lifted. When the day comes, what kind of smart tourism will we witness in Japan? It is definitely a subject that merits further observation.

 

Written by Chiaki ARAI

A propos de Chiaki Arai