Address by Watanabe Nobuyuki, Consul General of Japan in Chongqing at International Mountain Tourism Day 2021 World Heritage Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit · International Seminar on Mountain and Hot Spring Wellness Tourism

EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 29 2021, the main activity of the third International Mountain Tourism Day—the World Heritage Famous Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit kicked off in Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality, China successfully. Themed with “World Heritage Protection and Green Development of Mountain Tourism”, the Summit got strong support from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (IOV) and the China Association of National Parks and Scenic Sites. As an important sub-event of this summit, the International Seminar on Mountain and Hot Spring Wellness Tourism was held with top experts and scholars at home and abroad. They gave keynote speeches and shared frontier observations focusing on mountain tourism, hot spring tourism, and health tourism to explore "the integrated development of hot spring wellness, climate wellness, forest wellness and mountain tourism". The speeches will be released in succession to share with industry colleagues.

Watanabe Nobuyuki, Consul General of Japan in Chongqing delivered an address at International Seminar on Mountain and Hot Spring Wellness Tourism:

Dear guests, good afternoon!

I am Watanabe Nobuyuki from Consulate General of Japan in Chongqing.

I’d like to express my gratitude for being invited today to attend the International Seminar on Mountain and Hot Spring Wellness Tourism of International Mountain Tourism Day 2021 World Heritage Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit.

I’ve been told that at today’s seminar, we will discuss and exchange ideas on topics like hot spring wellness, climate wellness, and forest wellness within mountain tourism.

Japan is located on a volcanic belt rare in the whole world, so it suffers from frequent natural disasters like earthquake and volcanic eruption. On the other hand, plum rains, typhoon and snow bestow abundant water resources on Japan, making it one of the few countries on Earth with profuse hot springs. In detail, Japan boasts about 27,000 hot springs, and over 3,000 hot spring resorts. In addition, hot springs, due to functions of health maintenance and treatment, have been widely favored by local nobilities, samurais, and the common people in Japan for centuries. In recent years, with the progress of urbanization, Japan’s road network has been improved, and many hot springs have upgraded from hot spring clinics to resorts. And after plenty of manias, now hot springs are loved by the public as entertainment, wellness, and tourism facilities.

Thanks to all this, Japan has accumulated profound experience, achievements, and research results in various fields related to hot spring, including culture, social development, economy, and health. At today’s seminar, Japanese experts will introduce the latest upgrades of hot springs in Japan, and share their insights with us. I really look forward to seeing the development of China’s hot spring culture and hot spring media, led by Chongqing, promote international exchanges and communication.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak that started last year, communication between Chongqing and Japan has been hugely curbed. Nonetheless, Japan-invested enterprises in Chongqing still managed to initiate new business patterns, hold many colorful events such as economic seminar, Japanese film festival, and cultural tourism festival. Consulate General of Japan in Chongqing will continue to do its best to strengthen communication between Japan and Chongqing. I sincerely hope that the COVID-19 outbreak could end soon, and our communication can start over again. And I wish everyone present can visit Japan, to enjoy the pleasure of taking a bath in hot springs.

Again, I wish this seminar a complete success, and may you all have a healthy and happy life.

Thank you!