Present Situation of the Beppu Hot-spring Resort

Abstract

This paper describes the recent trends in tourism in the Beppu hot-spring resort. There was a rapid development in tourism in Beppu in the 1970’s, which after that peaked in the 1980’s so-called ‘bubble economy’ years. The recent decline in the number of tourists visiting Beppu shows that Beppu's existing tourism planning should be reconsidered. I would like to point out a number of problems in recent tourism development in Beppu, especially a need for reconstruction of facilities at the hot-springs which are traditional tourism resources.