Hokkaido Cycle Tourism Symposium !

by Kazu

Inviting the charismatic cycle-tourist Mr. Yuichi SATO from Shizuoka Prefecture where the most of green tea leaves and many of Japanese table fruits oranges are produced, the cycle tourism symposium was held in Sapporo City on December 6(Fri.).
I am so sorry for failing to post this event.
 

The room of the symposium was filled up with the enthusiasm of the people who love cycling and the promotion of cycle tourism.
Actually we had to add seats other than 70 seats prepared beforehand.

The speaker Mr. Sato  kindly introduced the infrastructure for accelerating cycle tourism in Taiwan and Shizuoka Prefecture.  

"But equipping with tools and cycle lane is not enough for enhancing cycle tourism," said Mr. Sato. " We have to raise the cyclists and widen the population of the people who enjoy and support cycle tourism."
After the key note speech was given by Mr. Sato, the panel discussion on the cycle tourism was got started.  

 The cycle tour guide who takes care of the logistics for cycle tourists Mr. Ishizuka, the chair of Takikawa Tourism Association Mr. Shimada, the policy planner for tourism in Hokkaido from Hokkaido District Tourism Bureau Mr. Tsujie, the special coordinator from Japan Travel Bureau Mr. Abe and Mr. Sato were the members of the panel in the symposium. I was the facilitator of the panel.

The discussion was extended to the audience on the floor. I was so satisfied with the enthusiasm of the audience who love cycling and cycle tourism.

A variety of people with various kinds of background were in the same room to discuss about the future of the tourism in Hokkaido.
The points were how to allure the cycle tourists from other area of Japan and the world as well as how we should establish the cycle tourism as a business all the year round.

After the panel, the panelist got together again and continued to talk about the tourism in Hokkaido in OOI Hokkaido in APIA that is run by Sapporo Beer Company.
Many challenges were verified in the discussion and they vowed to do their best for the future of Hokkaido.
I hope Sapporo Beer Company will be a strong supporter of cycle tourism in Hokkaido.

A happy New Year !