Panel Discussion
Coordinated by Shigekazu Mezaki
(Professor, Humanities Department, Mie University)
Panelists ： Toshio Hirono
(City Planning Consultant; President, Creative Studio Da Vinci Co.)
Yoshiyasu Shimizu
(General Manager, Nagahama Tourism Association)
Kuniko Takasaki
(Manager, Public Relations,
Kansai Regional Headquarters, Japan Travel Bureau)
｡?ezaki
Today I would like to explore with you the hows and wherebys of making Mie Prefecture a preferred destination for visitors from overseas. I would also like to discuss ideas pertaining to Mie Prefecture's current task, how to go about creating a new Visitors Industry which goes beyond simple tourism.
I would like to discuss with you, ways of creating new strategies to shape the tourism and/or Visitors Industries, with Ise/Shima as the core as we head into the 21 st Century.
｡?irono
In order to attract visitors from the world, internationally, I feel we must go beyond thinking only in terms of tourism as a business. We have to use all kinds of outlooks and go back and forth between the past and the future. Or, perhaps we are now at a point in history where we should consider tourism in a crossover context, in the flow of the wide variety of outlooks going around the world.
So, what are we to consider? First, we must energize. Each and every one of us must start by rediscovering and re-acknowledging our own towns. Nobody is going to heed a call to "come visit us" if that call is made by someone who does not love their own home town. The first priority is to create an environment wherein the residents can say with pride, "come on over, visit us." Without that, there is nothing to build on.
Another point that is critical to building an attractive, energized tourist destination is for government, private and academic sectors to come together in a variety of ways in a spirit of cooperation. We have to stop thinking in terms of just one town, or just one company. I feel we all need to get involved and work together on each project.
｡?himizu
Today I've been asked to lead a discussion on whether or not the "Kurokabe" in Nagahama City would meet with success in Mie. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say no, it won't succeed. The reason? Because the objective of Nagahama is not attracting visitors per se. Our thinking is that attracting visitors is only one of the methods, or techniques, that might be employed as a means to create a confortable, livable community. Other critical factors come into play, like the way the residents think, or the networks people have. It does seem to me that Mie doesn't have that sort of thing yet. I'm aware I must sound a little harsh, but that's what I think.
