Destination Management: Kyoto, Japan - Tourism Report and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of tourism in Kyoto, Japan, examining its destination resources, situational analysis, and competitive advantages. The report delves into Kyoto's traditional and emerging tourism sectors, highlighting the city's cultural landmarks, historical sites, and the rise of film tourism. It explores product diversity, including traditional crafts, local cuisine, and unique visitor experiences like tea ceremonies and samurai experiences. Furthermore, the report analyzes strategic directions for Kyoto, emphasizing the importance of hospitality, cultural promotion, international links, and addressing challenges like high tax rates and tourist pollution. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and offers recommendations for enhancing Kyoto's position in the global tourism market. The report is contributed by a student and available on Desklib for study purposes.

Running Head: TOURISM MANAGEMENT
Tourism Management
Name of the student
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Destination resources and situation analysis of Kyoto................................................................2
Destination positioning and emerging tourism product analysis.................................................4
Product diversity & visitor experience analysis..........................................................................5
Strategic direction........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Tourism is considered as an activity that is done for pleasure and entertainment. This is
done through travelling and exploring different places for fun. Tourism industry is the vigorous
and economical industry among all the sectors. Tourism industry has provided 119 million job
opportunities to the people across the world and this industry plays a significant role in
contributing towards the global economy with around $2.6trillion every year (Tsukui, Ichikawa
and Kagatsume, 2017). Tourism plays a key role towards the economic development of the
country by generating income, foreign exchange and generation of employment opportunities as
well. The objective of the assignment is to discuss how the tourism is helpful in improving the
destination location and increase its competitiveness across the tourism industry. The chosen
destination for the assignment is Kyoto in Japan. Further the assignment discuses about the
strategic thinking towards the tourism industry, competitiveness of Kyoto, its situational
analysis, positioning, the experiences of the visitors and destination product development.
Discussion
Destination resources and situation analysis of Kyoto
Kyoto is officially known as Kyoto city, situated in Japan. It is the capital of Kyoto
Prefecture which is located in the region of Kansai on Honshu Island. The city have a total
population of about 1.47 million. It is also the part of the metropolitan area along with Kobe and
Osaka. Kyoto is the third largest city of Japan and is among the oldest cities of Japan. It was
founded in 794, and has many cultural landmarks and consist of traditional historical sites all
over the region. Kyoto is also known as the heart of Japan. The city is gifted with an irresistible
heritage of prehistoric Buddhist temples, royal palaces and botanical gardens of all sizes and

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explanation (Horita, 2018). The city is also enriched in fine arts, rich culture and cuisine.
Kyoto’s most demanded food among the tourists are Yudofu which is boiled tofu, Japanese
pickles, conger eel, matcha and Yatsuhashi. Theses delicacies are famous in all over Japan
because of its delicate taste.
Kyoto has wooden houses all over the streets that give the city a traditional look. There is
huge extent of culture and history that can be treasured and sightseen in the city. The top priority
among all is the eastern Higashiyama district that has huge collection of temples, museums and
royal gardens. The most mesmerising among all the temples is Kinkakuji Temple which is also
known as the golden temple of Japan. This place attracts the tourists’ attention where people can
see example of Japanese tradition. The Ryoanji Temple is famous for its rock garden and comes
under world’s heritage sites. It is also part of the historic beauty of the city. Fushimi Inari Taisha
Shrine and Kiyomizudera Temple are also among the destination places of Kyoto. Among the
destination places are Zen gardens in Daitoku-ji and Ryōan-ji, Nijō-jō which is palace of 17th
century, imperial villas, moss gardens, Kyoto tower that gives the full view of the city, the
monkey park Iwatayama, Nishika market, Philosophers path, Mount Kurama, International
Kyoto museam and many more places to explore (Brasor, 2018).
Figure: Kyoto among the top ten in tourism

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Source: (Brasor, 2018)
Every year Kyoto city welcomes and serves around 53.6 million tourists which positively
contributes towards the economic development of the city. This number is increasing every year
and Kyoto is experiencing a boom in the tourism industry. The socio-culture factor of STEP
analysis of Kyoto influences both the growth of traditional tourism and the emerging tourism
sector in Kyoto. The traditional tourism of Kyoto includes traditional houses popularly known by
name Machiya in Japan. To preserve the culture, the city has transformed it into guesthouses that
offers tourists to stay there and experience the traditional life of Japan. The cultural dance show
like Geisha and theatres gives a strong feel of the socio-culture of the place. When the culture of
Kyoto is being compared to the emerging tourism sector, this city knows a perfect blend of both
the tourism sector. There are many tea houses, bars and coffee shops where the visitors can
refresh themselves (Prough, 2018). Kyoto also has a rich night life and has clubs, discos with
live music. Kyoto offers a fantastic experience in shopping to the tourists as well. But the city
should be more adaptive towards the demand of emerging tourism because in spite of such high
cultural heritage, visitors always seek innovative ways that can entertain them.
Destination positioning and emerging tourism product analysis
Kyoto is emerging fast through the film tourism and this sector is considered among the
key strategies in positioning among the emerging sector of tourism. Kyoto all over Japan is
known as the Hollywood of the Samurai movies. The temples, shrines and many heritage sites
are used for shooting of movies and even studios for the dramas. A movie called Nishida, has
been shot in the heritage sites of Kyoto like theme park, temples, and other locations. Due to the
famous shooting locations of Kyoto and because of the Samurai movies, the city’s destination
spots have been exposed all over the world. The emerging tourism sector gives plenty of

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opportunities for the growth of tourism sector. The exposure due to the film industry has
increased the number of visitors to the destination places of the city. The film tourism provides a
positive advantage to the city in gaining competitiveness in the tourism industry. The theme park
of the city is the base of the Japanese films which clearly shows the beauty of Kyoto. The
countries across the world spend huge money for shooting films in destination locations.
Therefore, the rich heritage of the city helps the directors of the country to invest in own home
place (Sigala, 2017). This provides opportunity for even marketing the destination places of
Kyoto across the world which not only welcomes tourists but also attracts the attention of
investors of the emerging tourism. However, the film tourism has a major weakness that it
involves lot of government interference. If there is insufficient support and guidance of the
government, the emerging tourism faces lot of problem.
Product diversity & visitor experience analysis
Kyoto is one of the shopping destination of the country. The city offers traditional
handicraft and matcha products. The city enjoys the product diversity and offers many products
to take home. The Mamesara dishes is a perfect blend of Japanese craftsmanship. Kyoto is a
perfect place to taste the sake. They attract tourists’ attention because they are served in beautiful
bottles. There are fifty sake breweries across the city. Japanese accessories are very famous
across all over the country like handmade phone accessories. The oil blotting sheets of Japan is a
perfect blend of beauty product. This is the perfect skincare product that every girl visiting Kyoto
must buy. Kyoto serves the best green tea across the country. The tea commonly known as
matcha in Japan. There are matcha tea as well as ice creams offered in the city. The famous
Tsubaki oil of Japan and the wooden comb attracts the buyers. Kyoto offers many beautiful
products to the girls like beautiful hair accessories like Kanzashi, the traditional hair ornament of

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Japan. Kyoto is famous for limited edition items offered by Starbucks like designer tumblers and
more (What to Buy in Kyoto 2020, 2020). There are other products like chopsticks with beautiful
cases, picked vegetables and more. These products enhance the culture of the country because in
every product, the perfect glimpse of the Japanese culture can be seen.
Kyoto offers a wide range of activities to the visitors. There are many places along with
many activities to be explored in Kyoto. The tea ceremony in Kyoto, known as Chado, is a
wonderful experience for the visitors. This gives a strong reflection about the Zen Buddhist roots
in the country. The ceremony is held to acknowledge the utensils, along with tea and company of
one another. The tea is prepared artistically before serving it to the visitors. This ceremony starts
with the temple tour that explains the history of the culture of Japan. This is the best way to lure
the visitors.
The Mount Kurama offers the best place for relaxation to the tourist especially in hot
springs. This place offers many activities like mountain climbing and is the best place to
experience the wildlife heritage of the country. The Kyoto’s cultural forest, temples and shrines
are the ideal places for the first time visitors. In the same way, the Kyoto Samurai experience
that gives opportunity to learn the art of using sword like Samurai, the ramen cooking classes
with the Japanese Souvenir gives chance to the visitors to look inside the ramen factory. The
visitors learn the secrets of making the broth, noodles and more. This place gives you the option
of choosing favourite toppings and serves you at the personalized bowl. The giant walk tour at
night gives best experience to the people visiting the place (Endo, 2018).
The product diversity and the positive visitor experience enhances the tourism industry of
the country. The product diversity is the best technique used by the Japanese to make their

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culture known to the world. In the same way, a positive visitor attitude towards the tourism of
any place acts as a word of mouth for the country. The visitors visiting the place and having
wonderful culture and travel experience is likely to recommend the places to other people as
well. This will add a positive point in gaining competitive advantage for the tourism industry
(Sigala, 2017).
Strategic direction
A well planned strategic direction will help Kyoto in fighting the challenging issues that
acts a barrier in the growth of tourism industry in the city. Kyoto is the city that fascinates the
world in many ways. The city offers the visitors to experience the tradition of Japanese culture.
But the city should enhance its appeal of hospitality that would attract many visitors from all
over the world. Kyoto is known as the city of Omotenashi which means offering service from
core of the heart. Culture of any place is an important element to boost tourism of the place.
Therefore, the city should promote its place a bit more so that the local rituals along with the
heritage helps in the development of the economy.
The promotion of international links along with the cooperation of the people of the
country will make navigation easy for the tourists. For example, the new transportation line and
renovation of the malls in Kyoto helped in maintenance along with navigation in the city. In the
same way, the Kansai Airport express links the international airport and the Kyoko station is
proving beneficial for the visitors along with the local of the city (ABEV, 2019).
The development of three projects in Kyoto attracted tourists from all over the world
namely, Kyoto flower plant lantern project, winter special project and the project that promotes
school trips in the city.

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Kyoto should embrace more cultural diversity and try to build a city that should allow
people of different culture to live in the city and also contributes towards the economic
development by playing active roles in the society. The city focuses more on its culture but to
compete in this competitive world, it should welcome cultural diversity in the place. One of the
challenges that Kyoto should fight with is its high tax rates on products. Also due to the high
growth rate of population in the country, the Kyoto city is facing a serious problem due to tourist
pollution. Government should take initiatives to solve the matter.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it concludes that Kyoto is enriched in cultural
beauty and every year attracts thousands of visitors to visit the place. The place is perfect blend
of traditional as well as emerging tourism because it is the destination place for the film tourism
for many countries. Though, the city favours culture but to remain competitive in the market it
should encourage diversity in the place and allow people of different background to be a part of
the culture. This will not only enhance the economic development but will also make the city’s
bond stronger with the international countries.

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References
2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-Kyoto-japan/>
[Accessed 19 April 2020].
ABEV, D., 2019. In focus 1. Overtourism is invading Kyoto. Overtourism: Excesses,
Discontents and Measures in Travel and Tourism, p.86.
Brasor, P.H.I.L.I.P., 2018. Japan is struggling to deal with the foreign tourism boom. The Japan
Times.
Endo, R., 2018. Reforming Heritage and Tourism in Occupied Kyoto (1945-1952): How to
Create Peace when Surrounded by the Atmosphere of War. Asian Journal of Tourism
Research, 3(2), pp.95-120.
Horita, Y., 2018. Urban Development and Tourism in Japanese Cities. Tourism Planning &
Development, 15(1), pp.26-39.
Jw-webmagazine.com. 2020. What To Buy In Kyoto 2020. [online] Available at: <https://jw-
webmagazine.com/10-must-buy-souvenirs-in-Kyoto-6dd1a2fd7750/> [Accessed 19 April 2020].
Kuchiki, A., 2020. On ‘Economies of Sequence’in the Architectural Theory of Agglomeration: A
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Li, T., Asari, M., Yashiro, Y., Yano, J. and Sakai, S., 2019. Investigation towards tourism waste
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Conference of Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management (p. 527). Japan Society
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development, and environmental degradation in Sri Lanka. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics,
Planning, and Policy, 12(10), pp.910-916.
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Tsukui, M., Ichikawa, T. and Kagatsume, M., 2017. Repercussion effects of consumption by
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