A popular rural Japanese travel destination is no longer accepting bookings from travel agents as it deals with overwhelming demand.
Kumano Travel, a “local, community-based initiative” was set up to provide “quality information, services, and products” to visitors travelling to Kumano – described as a “spiritual region” of Japan.
The district is located in the southern reaches of the mountainous Kii Peninsula and features isolated hot springs and welcoming countryside hospitality.
The destination now appears to be a victim of its own success, however. In correspondence seen by Travel Weekly, Kumano Travel says it is closing its doors to B2B business as it is unable to meet the demand.
Source: Kumano Travel Instagram
“Because of the small capacity of local systems and the extremely large demand for requests we are forced to implement some of these recommended dramatic changes in the short to medium time frame to restructure,” it said, adding that Covid-19 had been “challenging” for its systems.
Given the challenges as board of consultants have recommended Kumano Travel reduce the number of reservations received, while new systems and staff are put in place.
Kumano Travel has already been implementing this for its B2C travellers, and has already shut down the website and reduced daily time frames to accept new reservations.
It is now “forced” to reduce B2B requests and is “not able to accept any more new requests from travel agents into the near to mid-future”.
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience,” the body said, adding that requests already in the system are fine.
“We sincerely hope that these restructuring efforts help us to meet our mandate of creating a high-quality sustainable community,” it continued.
The decision comes at a time when Australian travel to Japan is booming – the number of Australians visiting Japan in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 46.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).
The influx of travellers to the country has led to some resistance – tiered prices for tourists are becoming increasingly common and tourists have been banned from visiting certain streets in Kyoto after locals accused them of treating the city like a theme park.
Tourists banned in Kyoto streets after locals say neighbourhood is “not a theme park”
Feature image: Kumano Travel Instagram.