地方創生に向けたスポーツツーリズムの推進状況：スポーツコミッションによる交流人口増加策に着手した矢板市の事例

抄録

The purpose of this study was to examine the promotion of sports tourism for regional revitalization in Yaita City, Tochigi Prefecture, and to present future issues. We conducted several semi-structured interviews with local government officials in Yaita City. Since the formulation of a comprehensive regional strategy in January 2016, Yaita City has promoted sports tourism as a concrete measure for increasing the number of visitors to the city. To this end, the Yaita Sports Commission was established in April 2018. The commission has been involved in a variety of projects, including organizing sports events and camps, and conducting promotional activities. In particular, the Commerce, Industry, and Tourism Division has played a central role in executing these activities. To promote regional revitalization in Yaita City, the General Policy Division has been responsible for liaison and coordination between departments, and for processing grants related to regional revitalization. In addition, the Sports Promotion Division of the Board of Education was also involved in establishing the Tochigi Football Center as a base for sports tourism. To date, the activities related to the promotion of sports tourism in Yaita City have been financed by a regional revitalization grant from the national government. Therefore, the Yaita Sports Commission will have to become financially independent in the future. To ensure that the measures that have been implemented to date are sustainable, establishing a system for promoting the activities of the commission in cooperation with various stakeholders in the region will be necessary.