The 63rd Installment
“Travel and Rural Areas”

by Tokuro Matsuo,
Professor, Master Program of Information Systems Architecture

In recent years, foreign travelers can be seen anywhere one goes in Japan. With the success of the Japan Tourism Agency's Visit Japan campaign, the number of foreign travelers to Japan has increased year after year over the past decade.

Excuse the abruptness, but I pose a question here:

Q1: Which number is greater, the number of people traveling from Japan to foreign countries or those coming from foreign countries to visit Japan?

Since 2009, the rise has slowed in the number of foreign visitors to Japan due to events such as new strains of influenza, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the Great East Japan Earthquake. According to statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organization, annual foreign visitors to Japan as of September 30, 2013 was about 7.7 million people, which was on track to be the most such visitors ever. I imagine this number will exceed 15 million people in 2020. Meanwhile, more than 15 million people are already traveling to other countries from Japan annually, and that number is approaching 20 million.

Q2: Why do people visit Japan from foreign countries?

There are many reasons, but there are three main ones. The first is for general tourism or to visit friends, which is what we would imagine. The second is for business. The third reason is for MICE activities. I believe that visits to Japan for business include reasons related to things like business negotiations and contracts. MICE travel, while similar to business travel in some ways, does not involve the exchange of money very much.

Q3: What on earth are MICE activities?

MICE is an acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, and Exhibitions. While MICE travel is technically done for business purposes, there is a tourism aspect to it as many MICE events are held in local cities and scenic areas and involve excursions and visiting attractions. MICE activities are attracting attention globally, and even Japan is working hard to attract such visitors, despite a limited advertising budget. Other countries are using substantial budgets to promote programs aimed at attracting MICE and general tourism, but Japan is in a sorry state in this regard.

Q4: What are the fundamental differences between MICE travel and general tourism?

With general tourism, budgets differ with each traveler. While some may choose an inexpensive place and stay many nights, others will only travel once every 10 years but spare no expense when they do. With MICE, however, there is always a certain level of quality. Let's take the international conference, a kind of MICE, as an example. Attendees use the conference rooms at the hotels they stay at, attend receptions and dinner banquets after conferences, visit attractions in places whose charms are well advertised, take high-quality coffee breaks, and receive bound information packets with their own ISBN numbers. Everything is high class.

Q5: Why is it necessary to maintain a high quality level for MICE?

As explained above, it would certainly seem that MICE activities cost money. A high level of quality is sought throughout, not just with regard to the content of the international conference but also the meetings held prior to the conference, VIP-only dinners, post-conference dinners among conference participants, and other such events. Some might feel that this way of doing things is rather wasteful. However, if quality were compromised, attending such conferences would stop being pleasant experiences. People would stop traveling from overseas to attend them, leading to Japan losing economic or technological advantages in the future and ultimately resulting in a less competitive industry.

Q6: Does MICE have the potential to effect rural area development?

International conferences, for example, have a per-capita economic ripple effect that is six to eight times that of general tourism. Put differently, one conference attended by 500 people would have an economic effect equivalent to 3,000 people visiting for general tourism. Hosting two international conferences a month would be equivalent to the effect of more than 70,000 general tourists. Therefore, getting more international conferences to be held in smaller cities that do not stand out for their tourism industry or tourism resources has the power to dramatically change that region. That in turn will result in bigger social and cultural ripple effects. Social ripple effect refers to how an increase in visitors to rural areas leads to improved transportation infrastructure and better trained tourism personnel who welcome visitors. As an example of a cultural ripple effect, a conference related to medicine gives public lectures that boosts people's regard for their health.

Q7: Why can MICE lead to rural area development?

With bus tours and simple travel, most people only visit rural areas for a night or so. However, international conferences might run for five days. Such attendees would therefore stay at area hotels for six nights. Moreover, as mentioned above, international conferences involve various expenses, much of which are paid to local businesses and organizations. Oftentimes, conference programs are printed by local printing companies, and local catering businesses provide attendees with various things to eat during coffee breaks. Using coffee breaks as an example, say that 500 people attend an international conference that runs for five days. There is one coffee break each in the morning and afternoon. Assuming that the cost per person per break is ¥800, which include various snacks and several kinds of drinks that attendees can have as much as they want of, that expense alone comes to ¥4 million.

MICE activities therefore bring significant business opportunities to rural areas, while fostering dramatic change and development. There is also a strong connection between MICE and general tourism, so promoting both at the same time is ideal. For instance, say that MICE travelers do some sightseeing in a rural area when not attending a conference. Since MICE travelers are government officials, company executives, university professors, and other such people who are skilled in transmitting information and are trusted to do so, it goes without saying that they have significant influence. If they come away with a good impression of a place, others will hear about it and the locality will be given a chance to improve even further.