TALISAY CITY -- In the bid to encourage more locals to visit Amakusa City in Japan, the Amakusa Tourism Promotion Team has presented the tourism potential of the destination among Negrense stakeholders.
Members of the foreign group are from Amakusa Hondo Rokan and Hotel Association, Amakusa City Hall Industrial Policy Division, Amakusa Takarajima Tourism Association, Amakusa Airline, National Licensed English-Speaking Guide, and L. Nature Inc.
They underscored what the city can offer to tourists, like the Negrenses, during the Tourism Promotion Meeting dubbed “Let’s go to Amakusa” held at Nature’s Village Resort here Thursday, September 26.
Located at the center of Kyushu, southwest of Kumamoto, Amakusa is made up of approximately 120 islands of various sizes and designated as Unzen-Amakusa National Park centering on its coastlines.
Amakusa remains home to early Christian culture. Christianity in this Japan city offers rare traces of history including introduction, propagation, oppression, hiding and revival.
Sakie Urakami-Saito, of the National Licensed English-Speaking Guide, told SunStar Bacolod that the major tourism offerings of Amakusa include its rich heritage, culture and history.
Urakami-Saito cited Sakitsu Village as one of the “Hidden Christian Sites” in the Nagasaki Region.
It forms part of the area declared as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) World Heritage Site in July 2018.
“These are on top of other tourism offerings from food to a variety of natural attractions and views,” she said.
What sets Amakusa apart from other destinations in Japan like Tokyo and Osaka which are known for their city life is its “countryside” feel.
“Tourists cannot imagine what the countryside of Japan is if they only visit Tokyo and Osaka. The life of the local people there can be experienced in Amakusa,” Urakami-Saito said.
Also, Amakusa is accessible from the Fokuoka Airport, she said, stressing the satisfying hospitality of the people there.
Currently, there is still fewer number of Filipino tourists visiting Amasuka.
That is why the team is introducing the city’s tourism potential to Negrenses, it said.
The half-day activity, meanwhile, was attended by local tour operators and travel agencies, and representatives of the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental.
Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said the provincial government is linking the promotion team from Japan to local tour operators in the province.
Mansinares said while the foreign group is promoting Amasuka to the Negrenses, it is also an opportunity for the province to promote its tourism to them, to Japan.
“We want to strengthen the relations between the two tourism areas,” she added.
After the meeting, the Amakusa Tourism Promotion Team paid a visit to Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
They then visited some farms and tried some of the local food and cuisine.