InsideJapan has launched an overtourism strategy promoting under-visited regions in the destination.
InsideJapan, which this year celebrates 25 years of sending small group tours and self-guided cultural trips to Japan, will focus on new regions for 2025 to help balance its visitor distribution to the country and promote sustainability.
The regions are Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, Toyama, Nagoya and Aomori.
The operator has pledged to enhance product in these areas this year to encourage clients to visit them and plans to launch a dedicated microsite, highlighting places to visit and experiences, in the near future.
The operator has also reduced prices of its off-peak and shoulder season small group tours by up to 15% to encourage travel at less busy times of year as well as travel to less visited areas.
The operator’s ‘under-tourism’ plan follows significant growth in tourism to the destination in recent years.
Co-founder of parent company Inside Travel Group Simon King is hopeful the strategy will ease overtourism and help manage its impact.
He said: “With ever-growing visitor numbers, we believe part of the solution to overtourism lies in dispersing travel to lesser-known parts of the country.
“We have the unique ability to guide our visitors to these regions. This initiative will not only alleviate the pressure the country’s most visited sites but will also foster economic growth in underexplored areas. Of course, it is crucial that this dispersal is managed thoughtfully to prevent shifting the problem elsewhere – and that’s where our sustainability team comes in.”
The five regions the operator is focusing on this year were chosen based on specific criteria, including being outside Japan’s top five prefectures of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido and Fukuoka; attracting fewer than 10% of visitors according to government figures; operating below perceived capacity; having ample room availability; easily accessible with strong public transport infrastructure; support from local tourist boards and offering an authentic cultural experience.
The group’s global sustainability manager Rob Moran said: “These locations are spread across the north, central and south of mainland Honshu, as well as the southern island of Kyushu.
“Our strategy considers both carrying capacity, which relates to the physical limits of destinations, and social licence to operate, which takes into account community perceptions, cultural and social impacts, and harmony between visitors and residents.”
He added: “This is all part of our wider strategy which includes using our destination insight to suggest alterative districts and offer travel tips together with cultural advice to ensure a better experience all round, in places that are beginning to suffer from overtourism.”
King said the number of visitors to Japan was projected to rise to 60 million from 36 million in 2024.
In 2024, InsideJapan sent clients to 219 destinations across all 47 prefectures in the destination on self-guided trips and small group tours.
He said: “Japan, once a niche destination with just four million visitors when InsideJapan started in 2000, has seen a 600% increase in tourism, welcoming 36 million tourists in total in 2024.
“While this growth has benefited the Japanese economy significantly, it has also brought inevitable challenges. Over the past two years, overtourism issues have been increasingly captured in the media.
“We know that 80% of travellers visit only 10% of destinations – and we want to change that. There a more people than ever visiting the same small number of places.”
Overtourism in Kyoto has already led to tourists being banned from certain parts of the Gion geisha district while similar issues are happening in other areas, including Kawaguchiko, popular for tourists due to Mt. Fuji, said King.