I’m inviting you to Iceland! In April 2024, I’m organizing a Deep Travel Study Tour to Iceland.
If you are a travel professional or a researcher and you want to learn about best practices from Iceland’s finest and at the same time expand your network, this tour is for you.
Spots are limited (11) so make sure to grab yours quickly! There’s also an early bird discount for the quickest.
Find all of the details here. Let’s meet up in Iceland!
Now let’s dive into today’s topics.
Who Can Revive Japan’s Rural Areas?
As you know if you’ve read some of my previous newsletters, I’m very enthusiastic about Japan and Japanese art (specifically movies). Now I also found a Japanese artist who became my go-to for deep work.
Considering their challenges in reviving rural areas and growing cities beyond Tokyo and Kyoto, the government is trying all sorts of tactics to tackle those issues.
One of those tactics is attracting foreign digital nomads and remote workers. They want to do this by offering a visa which could enable this segment of travelers to visit and stay in Japan for medium or long-term stays.
Why could this be beneficial?
I read an interesting post on LinkedIn about the struggle of rural areas in Japan.
The author writes: “Everyday at about 3pm bus loads of tourists from East Asian markets are dropped off, wander about spending little to nothing, and then disappear again with a few photographic keepsakes.”
Probably no destination wants this type of tourism and the biggest challenge is shifting from it to a more boutique tourism with travelers who ideally stay longer than one night, spend more and also have meaningful interactions with locals.
Specifically, the last aspect is not possible with bus tourists.
The biggest challenge in rural areas, not just in Japan, is often the lack of an entrepreneurial mindset. Sometimes what is needed in these places is someone from the outside to come in and bring in new ideas and a different way of thinking.
This will in turn disrupt the community as the locals know it but it doesn’t necessarily mean it could lead to negative outcomes like the loss of local culture and traditions, locals moving out and building a “tourist resort with no soul” (this happens too many times).
I would say this process is half art and half business.
The art is to develop trustful and strong relationships with locals.
The business part is to develop sustainable revenue for the whole community involved.
Maybe, if done with art, compassion and business logic, integrating remote workers could be the trick to reviving rural areas in Japan and beyond.
Read more about the Japanese digital nomad visa here.
Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. - Dr. César A. Cruz
Travel Massive’s Top Travel Predictions for 2024
Like every year, Travel Massive members start a thread to share thoughts on their travel predictions for the next year.
By looking at the thread, I saw the following topics emerge:
Digital nomadism
This has been a big topic on Travel Massive in 2023 with new services for remote workers being highlighted on the platform. Perhaps in 2024, we’ll see the monetization of this rising segment of travelers.
Slow travel
In 2023 we want back to pre-pandemic levels on a global level in terms of how we traveled and how much we spent. Some predict that 2024 could be slower in that sense and people will rationalize their travel plans more. This could also be impacted by high inflation and the rise in living costs.
Sustainability and conscious travelers
Similarly, travelers will be opting for more eco-friendly accommodations and will choose destinations promoting sustainable travel.
AI and ChatGPT
One of the most talked about topics in 2023 - the rise of ChatGPT and how will it change the way we travel. So far we can’t say it has changed dramatically, but as the models get better, we might see more mainstream usages in 2024. However as one member mentions, boutique agencies who create bespoke and custom itineraries could well have an advantage in times of AI.
What’s your take for the next year? How do you think travel will change (or not)? Let me know in the comments!
And don’t forget to check out our Deep Travel Study Tour to Iceland. Hope to see you there!