‘Kyoto Should Not be Building Concrete Boxes’

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  05.11.10 | 12:43 PM ET

The New York Times takes a look at an ongoing debate in Japan over the future of the country’s tourism industry. At the heart of the issue: Should efforts to boost tourism emphasize modern initiatives, like the monster aquarium in the works in Kyoto, or focus on the country’s heritage buildings and traditional culture?

It’s an important question for a national tourism industry that has lagged behind its competitors. Reporter Hiroko Tabuchi notes that “the country generated just $10.8 billion from foreign tourism in 2008, a tenth of the $110 billion the United States earned from overseas tourists that year. Ukraine and Macao each attract more foreign tourists a year than Japan.”

Tags: Nation Branding, Tourism, Asia, Japan, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


3 Comments for ‘Kyoto Should Not be Building Concrete Boxes’

Grizzly Bear Mom 05.12.10 | 11:26 AM ET

I travel to see traditional homes, houses of worship, shops, and to eat traditional food.  If I want skycrapers I drive 20 miles up the road to Baltimore.

Paul Karl Lukacs 05.12.10 | 6:47 PM ET

Large projects provide contracts and cash for Japan’s well-connected construction industry.

Small-scale rehabilitation of old neighborhoods, not so much.

cardboard bin boxes 05.15.10 | 8:09 PM ET

I don’t see the issue here. It’s definitely good the Japanese economy, it will provide many new jobs. In a world were its getting more difficult to find work, I have to be on the “average joes” side here.

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