Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, a “second Niseko” with increasing inbound demand
Hakuba Village (Kitaazumi-gun, Nagano Prefecture), which attracted the world’s attention during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, has seen a surge in inbound demand in recent years as a ski resort following “Niseko” in Hokkaido.
According to Hakuba Village’s tourism statistics, the number of tourists who visited the village during the COVID-19 crisis doubled from 1.42 million in 2009 to 2.71 million in 2012.
Hakuba Village, Kotani Village, and Omachi City, which are located at the foot of the Northern Alps, are known as the “Hakuba Valley,” with 10 slopes, and if you purchase a common lift ticket, you can easily travel between the slopes on a shuttle bus. The secret of its popularity seems to be that you can easily come and go between slopes by shuttle bus if you purchase a common lift ticket. About 40% of the foreigners who come here are Australians. Recently, in addition to skiers, we have also seen an increase in tourists from Asia who come to see the autumn leaves and snow,” said the Hakuba Village Tourism Bureau.
With the increase in inbound demand, foreign capital has accelerated its presence in Hakuba. In the past five years, land prices have increased approximately fourfold, and in July 2011, the National Tax Agency announced that Hakuba Village ranked first in Japan for land prices (32.1%).” In 2006, Marriott International of the U.S. opened the first foreign-affiliated hotel in Hakuba Village, and after ’26, the Banyan Tree, a Singaporean luxury hotel brand, is scheduled to open in the village.
Some troubles caused by foreign tourists
Restaurants are also in a bubble due to the influx of foreign tourists, but there are also many troubles. As one restaurant manager said, “There are many problems with foreign tourists.
One restaurant manager said, “We have had a string of unapproved cancellations due to miscommunication, and we have even had to call the police when drunken customers got into fights with each other. According to a local group SNS that disseminates information about Hakuba, there have also been a number of customers who do not return rental snowboards, and customers who get too flustered at karaoke bars and cause sexual harassment problems. We are trying to help ourselves to maintain public safety by issuing warnings in Japanese and English and sharing surveillance camera footage.”
The Australian owner of a private accommodation in Hakuba Village is also “troubled by unwanted visitors.
Nearly 90% of the guests staying at private accommodations in Hakuba Village are foreigners, but due to the appreciation of the yen, the price of accommodation has increased by almost 1.5 times. We are making a reasonable profit, but we are also experiencing an increase in the number of troubles in proportion to the increase in guests we are attracting. We hear from all over that furniture has been broken and that flooring has been repaired due to people walking around the rooms with crampons (metal nails attached to the soles of their shoes). There are also noise problems. I think it is important to show respect to the locals.”
In response to the many problems, Hakuba Village is also working to improve the situation. A person in charge at the Hakuba Village Office responded to our interview.
We are removing graffiti, promoting the installation of security cameras, and strengthening multilingual alerts. AI on-demand transportation and Uber have been introduced to alleviate the cab shortage.’ In 23 years. and the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ), the project was recognized as a “Best Tourism Village,” a project that recognizes outstanding regions that are committed to the preservation of cultural heritage and sustainable development through tourism. We will continue to strive to be a world-class all-season mountain resort.
Hakuba Village continues to grow as a world-class ski resort. As Hakuba Village continues to grow as a world-class ski resort, we will continue to focus on its future initiatives as well as its development.
