A Chrono Travel Journal by Ryoko Yu. 2123
I have produced this report using a fact-bot combined with a chrono-translation-bot to adapt to the languages of 2023, covering my journey to the Japan Tourism Expo 2023 (the 'Expo'), which took place at Intex, Osaka (the third biggest exhibition platform), right as the intra-earth travel industry was reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Expo was a key industrial event that showcased the best of tourism in Japan and beyond. The atmosphere was hopeful and vibrant, with each booth immersing the visitors in the places that already or never existed on the Earth. Visitors from different countries made a colorful appearance contrasting to industrial premises of Intex, showcasing new trends and technology in tourism and culture.
I could sense the spirit of wander and willingness to learn in the eyes of visitors stopping by to explore themed booths and ask questions - a spiritual and mental awakening from 2 years of limited travels due to the pandemic, which was inspiring and celebrates the common humanities across cultures.
I observed four emerging travel trends at this Expo:
A desire to travel to Space
From JTB to 日本旅行 to Nagano prefecture, the theme of space travel was ringing throughout the Expo with elaborate showcases with starry photography, guided VR tours, and air balloon models. Though travel to space had not been a priority of Japan at the government level, undoubtedly inspired by the space race between the billionaires of the time, private businesses were mobilizing to make space travel available for the eager public. Here are some survey data collected by ScienceDirect over the past decade:
regarding the public interests in space, according to the Tarohmaru survey, 57.7% of respondents were either 'interested' or 'somewhat interested' in human space flights, and 58.4% in robotic space exploration.
At the Expo, space-travel-related booths attracted a steady line of visitors. While space travel has been a theme that is popular way before this Expo, the fact that it was then crossing the line from sci-fi into 'travel' solutions was a sort of tipping point.
Cultural diversity and language flexibility.
The Japan Tourism Expo 2023 attracted:
- 100,000 visitors from all over the world
- 1,000 exhibitors, including travel agencies, hotels, airlines, transportation companies and tourist destinations.
- Easy access to cultural experiences from over 70 countries/regions.
While Japan was notorious for having a strong language barrier, this trend was changing as tourism became a national priority and international travel services were at the top of the list. One would find many more Japanese people, from young to seniors, willing to speak in English, while some young visitors would select English content given the choice of Japanese content. Japan's slow change to become more international was apparent in those moments of smiles when the foreign visitors embraced their compatriots living in Japan, moved by the sound of a familiar language.
Besides the language, the Expo hosted experiences like Ninja Shuriken (Ninja-star) Throwing Experience, Washi Paper Making, Sake Tasting, and Feet Onsen, while visitors could also sample traditional Japanese and other countries' cuisine at every turn.
Travel Experiments with digital technologies
Mixed reality technologies were made increasingly available to the public around the second decade of the 21st century. At the Expo these technologies were applied to showcase various tourism products and services, such as VR space travel at JTR's booth, XR bus ride at Fukui Prefecture's booth, and AR Gamified travel missions at EXP. Journeys.
Though with the limitations in functionality and time constraints of the EXPO realm, these experiments, to various extents, expanded the world for attendees from Intex's megastructure into fictional and extraterrestrial worlds. The visitors got to explore, learn, and engage with the technology applications of 2023, leaving excited, curious and eager to learn more.
While digital technologies are debated to have the potential risk of totally consuming human consciousness, when applied to travel, they can also provide clarity and expanded capabilities for travelers to interact deeper with reality, engaging people in learning that is complemented by devices, not competing with them. For the latter would be akin to drug addiction, while the former would be meditation.
Sustainable Travel
The theme of sustainable travel, or sustainability in general, also appeared in many instances at the Tourism Expo 2023. Sustainable Travel Award was carried out to celebrate businesses that create an applicable tourism system for sustainable travel in regions of Japan facing a declining population.
Due to the heavy ecological footprint of air travel and the approaching of the far graver impact of space flights, the travel industry and the emphasis on 'sustainability' appeared to be more green-washing or guilt alleviation than contributions. However, given the importance of exchanges and explorations for social harmony and personal happiness, the net impact on society and the environment was a worthy debate. Following that, global tourism agencies engaged in dialogue with local Japanese companies about solutions and measures towards reducing CO2 emissions and the importance of contributing to local communities and local consumption for both the environment and local economies.
As seen from the graph below, trains remain at the bottom of the list for the CO2 footprint, followed by the gasoline cars. And the former outperform short-haul flights with an 84% decrease in carbon emissions.
And here is a more dramatic turnover claimed by ScienceDirect:
People who walk or cycle have lower carbon footprints from daily travel (up to 84%). Urban residents who switch from car driving to cycling for just one trip per day can reduce their annual carbon footprint by about half a tonne of CO₂.
On the other extreme - there is space travel. According to Eloise Marais, a physical geography professor at the University College London, the carbon footprint of launching oneself into space in one of these rockets is "incredibly high, close to about 100 times higher than if you took a long-haul flight". This poses a significant environmental concern for those who aim to be environmentally conscious and minimize their carbon footprint.
Conclusion
Japan Tourism Expo 2023 showed itself as a true force of positive peace, mobilizing people to 'step out of their comfort zone' and communicate with foreign cultures, which consequently led to a wonderful effect of dissolving borders between culture and national segmentation, as well as virtual and real.
Meanwhile, sustainability remained a non-negotiable priority for any industry to survive, calling out each business and the broader policy to work out a synergistic strategy for industry prosperity and sustainable integrity, setting the tone for the next decades to come.
Sources
- Smith, J. (2023). Emerging Trends in the Tourism Industry. Tourism Trends Journal, 42(3), 123-136. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576523002217
- Johnson, A. (2023, October 15). Japan Tourism Expo 2023: Breaking Cultural Barriers. Yahoo Japan News. Retrieved from https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e3353c0f9a2fd766e61084462eafcebf77dcfd44
- Brown, M. (2023, November 5). The Health Benefits of Cycling. Health is Global. Retrieved from https://www.isglobal.org/en/healthisglobal/-/custom-blog-portlet/the-health-benefits-of-cycling/4735173/0
- UK Government. (2019). Greenhouse Gas Reporting: Conversion Factors 2019. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2019
- Marais, Eloise. (2023, October 25). Space Tourism: Rockets Emit 100 Times More CO₂ per Passenger than Flights - Imagine a Whole Industry. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/space-tourism-rockets-emit-100-times-more-co-per-passenger-than-flights-imagine-a-whole-industry-164601
