On November 8, the German Tourist Office held an event titled “Meet Germany 2022” in Tokyo for media and travel professionals. Destination and tourism suppliers from all over Germany visited Japan for the first time in three years. Each of them made a presentation.
Germany was the first to address the issue of how to develop a sustainable tourism industry.
Akira Nishiyama, Director General for Asia and Australia, Japan Bureau, German Tourist Board, first took the stage at the event, citing the example of some European destinations, saying, “This summer, some destinations were already facing overtourism, which was a problem before the Corona disaster. In order to overcome overtourism, the former practice of sending large numbers of tourists to a destination must be reconsidered. The challenge is how to secure revenue, and we believe that increasing the amount of money spent per traveler and lengthening the length of the trip are the solutions,” he said.
Next, a report on the current situation in Germany. In Germany, there are no restrictions on entry into the country, and although people are required to wear masks on public transportation, it has become a common practice to wear masks even indoors, and the country has completely entered the “post-Corona” era.
The non-Japanese inbound recovery status, expressed in terms of the number of overnight stays, has recovered to 68% of the 2019 level as of July of this year. Japanese travelers have also already caught up to more than 30% of the 2019 level in June and July, which is much faster than the recovery rate of Japanese outbound travelers compared to the statistics of the number of outbound travelers from Japan to foreign countries published by the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Mr. Nishiyama analyzed that although the current restrictions on Corona are disappearing, the Ukraine issue, the weak yen, soaring fuel prices, European infrastructure, and stagnant wages are all high hurdles to travel to Europe at present. Therefore, he explained that this fall’s “Sustainability” and “Luxury” promotional events are focused on target groups (i.e., affluent travelers) that are less affected by these factors.
The second half of the report will cover the presentations by the destination and tourism suppliers who came to Japan from Germany this time.
© Source travel watch