[O05-P37] Foreign Tourist Survey: Places of Interest, Transportation, etc.
Keywords:Tourists, Foreigners, Travel, Transportation
Since the completion of the Hokuriku Shinkansen the number of tourists visiting Kanazawa, located near the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark, has greatly increased, such that Kanazawa is now a popular tourist destination. Although the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark can be accessed from Kanazawa within 10 to 30 minutes, the number of tourists is exceptionally low.
To find out why tourists aren’t visiting, and how we can get them to visit, we conducted a survey in Kanazawa during October, 2019. Two staff members spent one day around Kanazawa Station, directly asking foreign tourists to complete the survey.
As a result of the survey, we were able to discover that very few people know about Geoparks. Not only did most people not know what a Geopark was, not one single person had heard of the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark.
In regards to whether people are travelling outside of Kanazawa, but within Ishikawa Prefecture, most people replied that they were not. The biggest reason provided was that there was not enough time. On the other hand, when shown photos of the Geopark, particularly photos of Hakusan’s diverse nature, most people were extremely interested. Many people exclaimed that they wanted to visit the places shown in the photos.
However, there is very limited public transport within the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark. Unawares of this, most people believed that they could access the sites in the photos via public transport. There was a big impression that you can travel anywhere in Japan using just trains and buses.
Furthermore, when asked if they would consider renting a car, roughly half of participants said they wouldn’t, and half said they would. Of the half who would not consider renting a car, the biggest reason provided was that they either did not have an international license, or getting an international license was too much of a hassle. Therefore, rather than promoting the use of rental cars, it may be more beneficial to provide and promote better and more accessible public transport.
From the results of this survey we were able to obtain a lot of information that is useful to Geoparks. However, the survey is limited in many ways. For example the number of participants in this survey was low, and the participants were limited to the quite niche Kanazawa area. Furthermore, the results discussed are just a selection of key results found throughout the survey. Therefore, we ask for your discretion when considering the results of this survey.
To find out why tourists aren’t visiting, and how we can get them to visit, we conducted a survey in Kanazawa during October, 2019. Two staff members spent one day around Kanazawa Station, directly asking foreign tourists to complete the survey.
As a result of the survey, we were able to discover that very few people know about Geoparks. Not only did most people not know what a Geopark was, not one single person had heard of the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark.
In regards to whether people are travelling outside of Kanazawa, but within Ishikawa Prefecture, most people replied that they were not. The biggest reason provided was that there was not enough time. On the other hand, when shown photos of the Geopark, particularly photos of Hakusan’s diverse nature, most people were extremely interested. Many people exclaimed that they wanted to visit the places shown in the photos.
However, there is very limited public transport within the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark. Unawares of this, most people believed that they could access the sites in the photos via public transport. There was a big impression that you can travel anywhere in Japan using just trains and buses.
Furthermore, when asked if they would consider renting a car, roughly half of participants said they wouldn’t, and half said they would. Of the half who would not consider renting a car, the biggest reason provided was that they either did not have an international license, or getting an international license was too much of a hassle. Therefore, rather than promoting the use of rental cars, it may be more beneficial to provide and promote better and more accessible public transport.
From the results of this survey we were able to obtain a lot of information that is useful to Geoparks. However, the survey is limited in many ways. For example the number of participants in this survey was low, and the participants were limited to the quite niche Kanazawa area. Furthermore, the results discussed are just a selection of key results found throughout the survey. Therefore, we ask for your discretion when considering the results of this survey.