Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry:
The case of the Japanese retail sector
Daijiro Yamagishi
Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University

Background

Proposed Methods• The tourism industry is composed of various operating sectors, which
can be divided into direct providers (transport, ancillary service, visitor
service, hospitality) and indirect providers (e.g. retailers, wholesalers,manufacturing industry, insurance industry) (French, Craig-Smith, &Collier, 2000).
• As presented in Figure 1, in addition to direct providers, indirectproviders (including the retail sector) are an important component of
the tourism industry.

• To achieve the research aims, this study will use Osaka, a popular
destination among international tourists, as a case of a Japanese tourism
destination.
• This research project will be divided into three phases (Figure 3).
Adopting a research design used by Jesus and Franco (2016), this study
will collect primary and secondary data.

Figure 1. Structure of the tourism industry
Source: French et al. (2000)• Japan received more than 31.8 million international tourists in 2019,
which was the highest number in the nation’s history (Japan National
Tourism Organization, 2020).
• In 2019, international tourists’ consumption in Japan reached 4.8 trillion
yen. As shown in Figure 2, shopping accounted for more than 30
percent of their total expenses. This fact indicates that many retailstores in Japan greatly benefit from international tourists.
0.05%

34.67%

29.36%

Accomdation
Food and Beverage
Transportation
Entertaiment
Shopping
Other

21.60%
3.96%
10.36%

Figure 2. Consumption by inbound tourist in 2019
Source: Japan Tourism Agency (2020)• The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected theglobal economy, and tourism is one of the most impacted industries inthe world (UNWTO, 2020). The Japanese tourism industry, including theretail sector, is no exception. The Japan Department Store Association(2020) reported that department store sales in April 2020 fell 72.8%
compared with those in the same month last year.
• The hospitality and transport sectors have drawn enormous researchattention from tourism scholars; by contrast, despite its economic
contributions to the industry, the retail sector has received limited
research focus (Choi, Heo, & Law, 2015). In particular, how the retailsector collaborates with other tourism suppliers for destination
development has not been well investigated.
• It has been widely discussed that close collaborations between multiple
sectors are essential during a destination’s crisis recovery process (Jiang& Ritchie, 2017).

Research Aims
This proposed study focuses on the Japanese retail sector and aims toachieve the following:
1. Understand the Japanese retail sector’s existing collaborations withother tourism-related sectors in a tourism destination;
2. Explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the collaborations
between these sectors; and3. Explore how the retail sector collaborates with other sectors to recovera destination from the COVID-19 crisis.

Phase 1
Secondary data collection andanalysis• Secondary data, such as newspaper
articles, industry reports and corporate
documents, will be collected.
• The collected data will be analysed using
content analysis to explore the sector’s
collaborations and networks.

Phase 2Semi-structured interviews
with representatives of retailstores in Osaka• Semi-structured interviews will beconducted with representatives of retailstores in Osaka.
• The collected primary data will beanalysed using content analysis tofurther explore the collaborations andnetworks.

Phase 3
Follow up secondary datacollection and analysis• Follow-up secondary data will be collected
and analysed to supplement the findingsin the previous phases.

Figure 3. Proposed research designConclusion• This poster introduced a research project that aims to understand thecollaborations between the Japanese retail sector and other tourismrelated sectors in a destination by focusing on Osaka as the context.
• The topic of this study is timely and important, as it addresses achallenge that many Japanese destinations face due to the COVID-19
outbreak.
• The outcome of this study is also expected to provide useful knowledge
that destination management organisations and tourism practitioners inJapan may consult for future crisis and disaster response.

References• Choi, M. J., Heo, C. Y., & Law, R. (2015). Progress in shopping tourism. Journal of Travel &Tourism Marketing, 33(Suppl. 1), 1-24.
• French, C., Craig-Smith, S., & Collier, A. (2000). Principles of tourism (2nd ed.). Sydney,
Australia: Longman Australia.
• Japan Department Store Association (2020). Reiwa ２ nen ４ gatsu zenkoku hyakkaten
uriagedaka gaikyo [In April Reiwa 2, Overview of the department store sales in Japan].
Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://www.depart.or.jp/store_sale/files/2020.04zenkokup.pdf• Japan Tourism Agency (2020) 2019nen no honichi gaikokujin ryoko shohigaku (kakuho)[Inbound tourism consumption in 2019 (Confirmation)]. Retrieved June 28, 2020, fromhttps://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001338023.pdf• Japan National Tourism Organization (2020). Trends in the Visitor Arrivals to Japan by Year.
Retrieved June 28, 2020, from https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/#graph--inbound-travelers--transition• Jesus, C., & Franco, M. (2016). Cooperation networks in tourism: A study of hotels and rural
tourism establishments in an inland region of Portugal. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Management, 29, 165-175.
• Jiang, Y. & Ritchie, B. W. (2017). Disaster collaboration in tourism: Motives, impediments andsuccess factors. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 31, 70–82.
• UNWTO (2020). International tourist numbers could fall 60-80% in 2020. Retrieved June 28,
2020, from https://www.unwto.org/news/covid-19-international-tourist-numbers-could-fall60-80-in-2020

Japan Society for Tourism Studies, 2020 Student Poster Session