Characteristics of Securing Labor Force in Local Tourist Area:

A Case Study of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture

Abstract

    Development of tourism industry is being actively promoted by the Japanese government. While the tourism industry experiences thriving inbound tourism, many tourist destinations face the serious outflow of population and concomitant labor shortage. These conditions in mind, the paper delves into how labor force is secured in a local tourist destination, Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture. In addition to a series of interviews with accommodation businesses, whose purpose is to understand their strategy to secure labor force, a participatory observation in a Japanese-style hotel is conducted to realize the characteristics of labor process.
    Karuizawa boasts international fame as a tourist destination in Japan and hosts various kinds of accommodation facilities such as hotels run by multinational and domestic enterprises, inns, guest houses and Japanese-style hotels. To fill the souring labor demand of its hospitality industry, however, the population is too small and the location is too isolated from major cities. The workload of the hospitality industry fluctuates seasonally, weekly, and daily. Since the labor demand peaks both morning and evening, closeness from residence to workplace is required. The strategies to cope with the problems of spatial mismatch and fluctuation of labor differ among types of accommodation businesses
    Hotels operated by large capital, which afford to supply housing for employees, have nationwide recruitment areas. They respond to the seasonal fluctuation of labor demand by utilizing temporary staffing agencies as well as relocation of own staffs within the internal labor markets. Small to medium-sized businesses, which also tend to apply temporary staffing, circumscribe the recruitment areas within commutable distances. Family-owned small accommodations rooted in Karuizawa make the most of informal networks and kinships to secure part-time helps.