Abstract
Studies have indicated that welcoming people from outside the region is important for destination development. Although Japan used to be collectivistic and closed-minded, tourism destinations do not necessarily have closed-minded characteristics, considering that numerous tourists visit particular destinations. For example, there are certain ski resorts where the number of tourists increases due to a higher influx of foreigners, whereas other resorts are forced to close. The causes of this situation have not yet been fully discussed from a socio-ecological approach. Therefore, we examined the factors that influence relational mobility in Japanese municipalities with internationally-oriented ski resorts. The results revealed that the ratio of the foreign population, the number of local activities, and the birthplace of Hokkaido all impacted relational mobility. However, the number of years of service in the current organization had no significant effect on relational mobility. An important practical contribution is that the current findings can help residents better anticipate the transformation of regional characteristics by internationalization. Given that this type of research is still in its initial stages, further in-depth investigations are required to add to the present study’s findings.
