This is the second entry in our multi-part series on marketing Japan to affluent foreign tourists.
Our story begins in Nara, a city that attracts more than a few tourists, to be sure, but punches way below its weight when one considers its historical and cultural significance. A recently published article appearing in The Japan News made reference to its “long-standing characterization as a day trip destination” and went on to state that the prefecture had the distinction of having “the lowest number of guest rooms in Japan” until relatively recently.1
Nara City should prove to be a highly attractive destination for high-end tourists, who tend to be well educated and interested in history, the arts, and gastronomy. The city is now poised to offer accommodations to the highest of the high end. We will elaborate on this in a future entry in this series.
Nara was Japan’s first capital (710-784) during the best of times, as Charles Dickens might have put it. Magnificent is the word employed by William Wayne Farris to describe the eighth-century version of the place. “…its population, ranging from seventy thousand to one hundred thousand, make Japan’s most famous Chinese-style capital one of the world’s great urban centers.” [emphasis added]2 Nara has numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites, collectively known as “The Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.” Indeed, some have commented that the whole city is a World Heritage Site. How’s that for being steeped in history?
Nara is also intricately connected to Noh Theater and has its own culinary traditions, which we will cover in next week’s entry.
Heritage, high culture, and fine dining combine to make the city an attractive destination for affluent tourists. Hotels that cater to this cohort by offering authentic and bespoke experiences should encounter no obstacles in attracting such guests and persuading them to stay for more than one night.
1Aritome, T. “Nara Pref. Aims to Shed Its ‘Day Trip’ Image,” The Japan News, November 10, 2023.
2Farris, William. “Trade, Money, and Merchants in Nara Japan.” Monumenta Nipponica, Volume 53, No. 3 (Autumn, 1998).
*https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en
Drinking Japan 