Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of tourism activities of group package tours to rural areas of Japan, by analyzing the itineraries of specific themed tours among group package tours sold in Taiwan and Hong Kong. As a result, we made three main observations. First, we observed that theme-type tourism activities (the main tourism activities of themed tours) are more diverse in rural areas compared to that of the three major metropolitan areas. Second, we found the activities are divided into “visit type” and “experience type” activities. Third, we identified the geographic areas (regional block units) for each theme-type tourism activity. Based on the above results, we discussed the current status of tourism activities and issues, etc. in rural areas of Japan.
