What the Introduction of "Tourism Business" Education in High Schools Will Bring
In March of this year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced revisions to the national curriculum guidelines. For high schools, enhancing vocational education to cultivate the talent sought by industry was identified as a key priority. Although not a required course, “Tourism Business” will be added to the curriculum for commercial studies programs. In recent years, tourism has gained increasing prominence in the Japanese economy, with inbound spending serving as a key indicator of corporate performance. However, at the same time, a shortage of personnel to work in the tourism sector has become a significant challenge. In light of these revisions, I have outlined the expectations and challenges from the perspective of someone involved in the tourism industry.
1. "Tourism Business" was introduced as a subject in high schools (commercial studies) in 2020
Nationwide, there are 623 high schools with commercial departments and 172 schools dedicated solely to commercial studies, with a total student population of 195,190 (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as of May 2017).With the recent revision of the curriculum guidelines, high schools (commercial departments) will be able to introduce “Tourism Business” as a new subject starting in 2022. However, for about 20 years now, some schools have been offering “tourism”-related courses as school-designed subjects in general or comprehensive departments, and there are about 11 high schools with specialized departments that include “tourism” in their names. While many of these schools are located near tourist destinations or resorts, some have established it as one of their career tracks. The reasons for establishing these departments include fostering talent needed by local industries, cultivating a sense of attachment to the local community through experiential learning in collaboration with the region, and making it a subject that distinguishes the school. However, regarding instruction, since it is not an official subject, the current situation is that each school is devising its own approaches.
The curriculum content for “Tourism Business” in the new Curriculum Guidelines is as follows.
<Excerpt from Section 3, Commerce: "Tourism Business," of the High School Curriculum Guidelines>
Objective: To cultivate the qualities and abilities necessary for the development of the tourism business by applying commercial perspectives and ways of thinking, and through practical and experiential learning activities.
Content: To deepen students’ understanding of tourism business practices in the corporate sector through learning activities that identify trends and challenges in the tourism business, as well as activities that involve multifaceted and multi-angle analysis, reflection, and discussion of specific tourism business issues. To enable students to appropriately engage in tourism business through learning activities that verify theories related to tourism business through experiments, and through activities that involve setting specific tourism business challenges, devising and proposing tourism promotion strategies based on scientific evidence.
Topic
- The Diversification of Tourism Due to Changes in Tourism-Related Consumer Behavior Organizations for Tourism Promotion
- Overview of the roles, operations, and relevant laws and regulations of key stakeholders in the tourism business
- The concept and importance of hospitality in the tourism business
- Customer service methods and etiquette in the tourism business
- Safety Management, Including the Establishment of Emergency Response Systems
- The significance of linking tourism promotion with community development
- Community development tailored to tourism demand and tourism objectives
2. Current Tourism Education: Tourism as a School-Defined Subject Supported by Individual Teachers’ Ingenuity and Efforts
While preparations for textbooks are expected to proceed toward 2020 in anticipation of tourism becoming an official subject, details remain unclear at this time, as it is not yet known how many schools will choose to adopt it as a subject. Currently, the reality is that schools teaching tourism as a school-designed subject are selecting teaching materials through their own ingenuity or creating them by hand.
As our company has been producing and selling educational materials and learning tools for tourism education for many years, several of our products are currently used as teaching materials in high schools. The most widely used materials in high schools are “Fundamentals of Tourism Studies” and “Japan’s Inn Hospitality Certification” (a study guide for the exam). “Fundamentals of Tourism Studies” consists of the basic concepts that students new to the field of tourism must master.
From the Table of Contents of “Fundamentals of Tourism Studies”
- The Significance of Studying Tourism
- The Various Effects of Tourism
- Terminology Related to Tourism
- The Mechanisms of Tourism
- Tourism Resources and Attractions
- Various Tourism Businesses (Transportation, Travel, Accommodation, etc.)
- Tourism Policy and Administration
- Marketing
In addition, the "Japanese Inn Omotenashi Certification" is a certification exam that evaluates the "level of hospitality through customer service" across four levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Intermediate Practical, and Advanced. Certification for each level is granted through a web-based exam and practical exams (for Intermediate and Advanced levels).Approximately 4,000 people, primarily employees of ryokan and hotels, take the exam each year, though about 10% of all examinees are high school, vocational school, and university students, as well as employees from general corporations. While some high schools actively work toward obtaining this certification, the exam is also used as teaching material to help students understand the perspective of tourism businesses and learn what “omotenashi” entails.
Currently, teachers who teach tourism face several challenges, including “a lack of textbooks, with teaching materials often created by the teachers themselves,” “a shortage of advisors to help them understand the realities of the tourism industry and how to instruct students,” “how to collaborate with the local community,” and “the tendency for high school students to view tourism solely from the perspective of a tourist.”
This summer, I had the opportunity to speak at the National Commercial Education Leaders’ Training Seminar. “Tourism” was selected as one of the lecture themes for this year’s five-day seminar—an annual event for commercial high school teachers—and I spoke to leading commercial studies teachers from each prefecture, focusing on the connection between tourism and the economy.The teachers expressed a desire to learn how to identify points of connection between tourism and other industries when teaching “tourism business” from a commercial perspective, as well as how to relate tourism business to topics familiar to students and the local community—such as the increase in foreign visitors to Japan—and the impact of tourism on Japanese society and the economy. These issues will likely become key challenges for teachers who will be teaching tourism in the future.
3. The Expanding Possibilities for the Future Through Studying Tourism
Currently, in our region, interactions between local residents and visitors are taking place through so-called non-traditional forms of tourism, such as farm stays, experiences in traditional Japanese houses, and opportunities to experience local lifestyle and culture. In these settings, which have emerged from the diversification of tourism, isn’t there a need for a new generation of young people raised in the region to serve as a bridge between the community and visitors? Learning “tourism business” within the context of the region’s current situation and gaining knowledge that connects that context to Japan and the world will help students develop skills that are useful to the local community.Furthermore, driven by inbound tourism spending, investment is also active in local factories and other sectors. The 2018 White Paper on Tourism highlights “tourism’s growing presence in the Japanese economy,” citing examples of increased exports across many industries and investment in manufacturing and other sectors nationwide. Moving forward, I believe that increasing the number of people who understand tourism is important not only for the tourism industry itself but for society as a whole.
Tourism Education Materials
: Fundamentals of Tourism
Studies Official Textbook for the Japanese Inn Omotenashi Certification <Beginner Level> Official Textbook
for the Japanese Inn Omotenashi Certification <Intermediate Level>
