Setouchi Tourism Authority Launches Global Website

The new website, which covers Japan’s lesser-known Setouchi Inland Sea Region, invites international travellers to take a ‘Setouchi trip’.

Surrounded by seven prefectures, which together are home to some of Japan’s best-known cities, including Hiroshima, Osaka and Kobe, Setouchi is Japan’s largest inland sea. With a calm, waveless sea, islands that look as if they are floating, and the graceful arches of a white bridge connecting them, Setouchi’s scenery is both uniquely memorable and unparalleled within Japan. But the area also has a strong sense of history and culture, fostered through its positioning around and reliance upon the sea.

Created as a new tourism body in 2016 and commencing international operations in late 2017, Setouchi Tourism Authority has now launched its first official consumer website, setouchitrip.com, dedicated to unveiling the charms of the coastal Setouchi region.
 
The new website, which is fully optimised and mobile-friendly, offers consumers a wealth of useful tourist information about travelling to the Setouchi area, from maps and model itineraries to an inspiring visual guide to activities and adventures throughout the area, with six distinguished sections for ‘adventure and experience’, ‘art and culture’, ‘history’, ‘sea and nature’, ‘food and drink’ and ‘relaxing stays’. A booking mechanism powered by Voyagin has also been integrated, enabling visitors to pre-book a variety of tours – from ancient temples to UNESCO World Heritage sites.

It has been launched at a time when the desire to visit Japan has never been greater. Japan welcomes 300,000 annual UK visitors and has experienced an annual growth rate of 10-15%. As an area known for its unique culture, art and design, active adventure, and food and drink, the Setouchi brand will be boosted for the UK market, ahead of key events in Japan, such as the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, in order to attract further tourism.

Setouchi Tourism Authority, the tourism body behind the new website, is the largest Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) in Japan and the first to oversee multiple prefectures. The Setouchi Region encompasses a 450 kilometre long area west of Kyoto including seven prefectures (Hyogo, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime), the cities of Kobe and Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, and the iconic art of Naoshima Island. 

Tomohiro Muraki, Director of the Setouchi Tourism Authority, comments: “The Setouchi region is a growing area for UK tourists, which offers travellers the opportunity to experience the ‘real Japan’, away from the tourist trail. As Japan prepares to welcome visitors to the first Rugby World Cup to be held in Asia in 2019, followed by the 2020 Olympics, we want to ensure that international visitors have the Setouchi region on their radar and are equipped with the best information sources to explore the destination as possible.”

Visit the new website at setouchitrip.com and put Setouchi firmly on your radar for your next visit to Japan. Whether Japanese castles, arts and handicrafts, lively festivals, traditional gardens, cycling, natural wonders or world-class art is your thing, you are sure to find something new and dazzling in Setouchi! 

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