What Attracts Chinese Tourists to Japan’s National Parks? - An Analysis for Overtourism Mitigation -

Overtourism and the unbalanced development of national parks have become major challenges for nature-based tourism destinations worldwide. In Japan, national parks are expected to play an important role in attracting international visitors, yet foreign tourists tend to concentrate in a limited number of well-known parks (such as Mount Fuji). Enhancing destination attractiveness in a sustainable manner is therefore essential for promoting balanced national park management and tourism development.

This study examines Chinese tourists’ preferences for destination attractiveness-related attributes in Japan’s national parks, with a particular focus on differences in preferences at the pre-visit stage. While previous studies have explored destination attractiveness for specific sites, limited research has systematically compared how foreign tourists evaluate multiple attributes of national parks before visiting.

Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey of 750 residents of China prior to their visit to Japan. Using a best–worst scaling approach, the study assessed preferences across ten destination attributes defined under the framework of Japan’s “National Park Enjoyment Project,” including natural resources, cultural and historical resources, recreational opportunities, local cuisine and specialty products, safety-related measures, and tourism infrastructure.

The results indicate that they generally prefer attributes that can be experienced locally, such as natural environments, cultural and historical resources, and region-specific food and experiences, rather than standardized infrastructure-related attributes. At the same time, the analysis reveals that tourists’ preferences are not homogeneous. A latent class model identified distinct segments of tourists with different preference structures. Notably, one segment valued safety in tourism — such as responses to emergencies and troubles — more highly than other destination attributes, while another segment placed greater importance on enhancing natural and cultural tourism resources and experiential offerings.

Further analysis showed that these preference differences are related to tourists’ sociodemographic characteristics, travel planning styles, and sources of tourism information. These findings suggest that foreign tourists cannot be treated as a single, uniform group when designing tourism strategies.

By highlighting the diversity of foreign tourists’ preferences, this study provides important insights for sustainable nature-based tourism management. Tailoring information provision and destination promotion strategies to different tourist segments may help reduce pressure on overcrowded national parks while encouraging visitation to lesser-known parks. The findings offer both theoretical contributions to tourism research and practical guidance for policymakers and tourism managers facing overtourism challenges in Japan and other countries.

【Publication Details】
　Title: Foreign tourists’ preferences for destination attributes in Japan’s national 　parks: A best-worst scaling analysis.
　Authors: Zijun YIN, Xintong ZHAO, Tomoko IMOTO
　Journal: Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
　DOI（識別子）: 10.1016/j.jort.2026.101014
　▶Research Highlights in Japanese

【Contact】
　Name: Tomoko Imoto
　Affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
　Email: t-imoto*tohoku.ac.jp（Replace “*” with “@”）
　Website: https://sites.google.com/tohoku.ac.jp/econimoto