Hayato Nagai

Understanding perceived physical risk: the case of Japan.

Perceived risk is identified in the tourism literature as a major deterrent to a potential tourists likelihood of visiting a destination. Although the physical-related problems that a tourist may encounter while traveling are discussed, research exploring tourists perceptions of physical perceived risk is limited. As a tourists prime concern is to experience a destinations offerings with limited or no threats to their safety and well-being, it is essential to identify what represents perceived physical risk for tourism development and planning purposes. To address this research gap, respondents studying in Australia with an interest in traveling to Japan were surveyed. Three factors that represented perceived physical risk were identified. Furthermore, this study determined that personal characteristics differentiated the students based on their perceived physical risk factors. Theoretical and practical implications from this research are outlined and opportunities for future research are provided.

Japanese Students on Educational Tourism: Current Trends and Challenges

Educational tourism has been adopted by many Japanese schools as part of their curriculum or as extracurricular learning programmes for many years. Although the number of school-aged children in Japan has been decreasing as the country’s overall population has grown older, the number of schools, especially high schools, engaging in overseas school trips has increased in the past two decades. Educational tourism is an important segment of Japan’s domestic tourism in particular, and it also has a large economic impact on global tourism. However, although educational tourism in Western countries has been previously discussed in the English tourism literature, educational tourism in Japan, especially overseas school trips, has received limited attention. Thus, this type of travel is not well represented in the growing body of literature on educational tourism. In order to fill this gap, this chapter first discusses the concept of educational tourism and provides an overview of educational tourism programmes in Japanese schools. The chapter then explores current trends and unique features of these programmes by consulting available secondary data. Finally, challenges related to educational tourism in Japan are discussed to gain a better understanding of this unique segment of the international tourism market.

Australian students’ activity preferences, perceived physical risk and interest in vacationing in Japan

The purpose of this study was to identify Australian students’ activity preferences, perceived physical risk and interest in Japan as a vacation destination. Based on a sample of 422 Australian students, five activity factors were determined. These were labeled as cultural, outdoor, excitement, built attractions and personal. Australian students were extremely interested in vacationing in Japan and they generally perceived few physical risks of a Japanese vacation. Hygiene risk significantly contributed to variance in interest in vacationing in Japan. Four activity types significantly contributed to interest in travel to Japan and perceived physical risk did not mediate the activity preference and interest relationship. Theoretical and practical implications for this research are outlined and limitations and opportunities for future research are provided.