In Issue 234 of Kanko Bunka (July 2017), which outlined destination management research and implementation trends in Japan and abroad, a transition from “management” to “governance” as the concept used to understand tourism areas in the field of tourism research was noted, particularly from the 2010s onward.
Tourism areas must be understood as a collection of diverse bodies with differing behavioral principles, and there are limits on the ability address situations with traditional “management” alone, and this may be cited as a reason for the shift.
Meanwhile, in Japan, we focused on the concept of governance in tourism areas centering on nature tourism areas (conservation areas) and mountainous areas, and while there is movement on exploring development toward implementation, these efforts are still in the nascent stage.
In this special feature, we outline the trends in research on the concept of governance in tourism areas at home and abroad. In addition, we ascertain the state of implementation through case studies of nature tourism areas (conservation areas) and mountainous areas both in Japan and overseas.