Characteristics of local municipalities which promote Ecotourism based on the social and economic conditions

Abstract

This research aimed to clarify the characteristics of the local municipalities that promote ecotourism in Japan into several groups based on the reginal social and economic conditions. The groupings gave us comprehensive understanding on the picture of Ecotourism expanding over Japan. Consequently，those municipalities were divided into 4 groups，in which 3 different types of Ecotourism are considered to be promoted. As the conclusion，those types of Ecotourism were respectively given names of “Resort type with rarely seen nature”，“Day trip type in urban space”，“Short trip type with travel activity”. These empirical findings would help the municipalities which wish to promote eco-tourism in the future.