Sectional Workshop A： "Developing Tourism Is the Same as Urban Development"
Instructed by Toshio Hirono
｡?irono
First of all, could tell me about the problems you are facing in regards to energizing your community, your organization, or your company.
○Participant (Sato： Tokushima Prefecture)
Tokushima Prefecture, unlike Shiga, is almost totally mountainous, and the issue of depopulation is a grave problem in areas outside tourism. I work in tourism, mainly PR and enticement programs. Recently I often hear the words "green tourism" and "ecotourism." It's my feeling that those kinds of concepts could be tied in with depopulated hilly or mountainous regions, to address the local depopulation problem and build up the community.
I am aware that we can't expect results anytime soon, but I wonder if you could give me some insights as to what to watch out for as we proceed, as well as how to incorporate effective PR.
○Participant (Narita： Narita Museum)
In May of this year I opened up a small private art museum in Nagahama City. I exhibit Art Deco artwork that I've collected as a hobby.
The visitors I get are mostly big-city dwellers who have heard about my museum. I get quite a few repeat customers too, but not many local visitors . As we're a private enterprise, we carry all the costs. Buildings operated by the city, and public facilities, have low admission charges, so the local people who visit my place are very often surprised： "What, we have to pay to get in?" I hope those of you here will drop by to see it sometime.
○Participant (Shinoyama： Shiga Prefecture)
In Shiga Prefecture the prefectural Lake Biwa Museum was constructed in 1996, and the Biwako Hall was completed in September of this year. So we're at a point where the large-scale hardware-type projects have been taken care of for the time being . Presently, with our financial situation so-tight, we're under a lot of pressure to come up with software-type ideas, even in budget creation.
｡?irono
One method that's effective for community development is putting on events . What I'm going talk about today is the event as a means to an end, to be utilized for the purpose of re-energizing the community. In creating and putting together the event, it becomes necessary to get involved with a wide variety of people in the community. Controversy will arise. There will be a major buzz, and rocking of the boat. All of that buzz and rocking are included in what we call an event. This difficult process is the most important part of the event. What's needed is for the community residents and administrators themselves to harmonize and coordinate the creation of a single entity, the event. Without that process, ultimately no community development or activation will take place. I feel that the central figure in the administration must create controversy within the community, create a buzz, to lead to activating the community.
