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Description of the symposium

ARISE Japan is hosting its fifth annual public symposium on the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, 13 October 2020, as an online event. This event was originally scheduled for 12 March 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19.

Tourism as an industry is a key pillar of Japan’s economic growth strategy. The number of inbound tourists has grown to 31,880,000 in 2019, fivefold from 2011, but images and news stories of tourists caught in earthquakes, heavy rain events, and typhoons in Japan have also increasingly been picked up by the media, highlighting an urgent need to balance disaster resilience-building with tourism promotion. In 2020, tourism took a nosedive as global travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic came into effect, with negative impacts felt not only by the industry but by local economies, reinforcing the message that disaster resilience-building and business continuity planning are urgent issues not only for businesses but for travel destination communities themselves.

ARISE Japan, working to realize the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the SDGs as Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s private sector alliance, will look into tourism – an industry that has long embraced public-private partnerships and is significantly represented by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – and their efforts to strengthen business continuity and resilience, to illustrate latest global ideas on strengthening disaster resilience.   

This event is open to the wider private sector and other stakeholders.

Supporting Organizations

• Japan Travel and Tourism Association (JTTA)
• Japan Bosai Platform (JBP)

Event Information

Date, time, location: 13 October 2020, 13:30-15:00, online (Zoom). Room opens 13:15. All presentations and discussions will be conducted in the Japanese language.

This is a free event, however, advanced registration is required (see online registration link).

Tentative Programme

Part One: Tourism and disaster resilience: lightning lectures

13:30-13:40 Welcome remarks & Lightning Lecture 1 - ‘DRR and crisis management in the tourism sector’

Mr. Masato Takamatsu, ARISE Japan Lead; President, Tourism Resilience Japan; Senior Executive Fellow, JTB Tourism Research and Consulting Co. (also moderator for Parts One and Two)

13:40-13:50 Lightning Lecture 2 - ‘What is Business Continuity Planning?’

Mr. Shigeki Honda, ARISE Japan Steering Committee member; Adviser, Minerva Veritas Co. Ltd.

13:50-14:00 Lightning Lecture 3 - ‘Sendai Framework for DRR and resilience of the private sector’

Ms. Yuki Matsuoka, Head, Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ office in Japan

14:00-14:10 Q&A

Part Two: Tourism and disaster resilience: tales from the frontlines

14:10-14:20 Good Practice 1 - Strengthening resilience of hotels: ensuring business continuity and continued employment through risk-conscious marketing strategies

Ms. Nozomi Onishi, Director, Tsuruga Holdings Co., Ltd.; Managing Director, Tsuruga Resort Co., Ltd.

14:20-14:30 Good Practice 2 - Strengthening resilience of the tourism destination itself: PPP for creating efficient emergency protocols for tourism industry operators

Mr. Yukichi Ueno, Executive Director, Fuji Five Lakes Tourism Federation

14:30-14:40 Supporting the Spread of Resilient Practices - Working group for crisis management and business continuity in the tourism industry

Mr. Minoru Kubota, President and COO, Japan Travel and Tourism Association

Part Three: Working with the ‘with-COVID’ present for a better ‘post-COVID’ future

14:40-14:55 Discussion

Moderated by Ms. Kiyomi Nakamura, ARISE Japan Steering Committee member; Manager, Project Planning and Development, Japan Conservation Engineers & Co., Ltd.

14:55-15:00 Concluding Remarks

Mr. Masato Takamatsu, ARISE Japan Lead