Study on possibilities of expansion of Japanese-Type ecotourism – focusing on nature-based daytrip tourists to ecotourism regions in Nabari City

This paper is an expedition study analysing the features of trips of ‘nature-based tourists’ from amongst daytrip tourists in Japan with the aim of seeking for expansion possibilities of Japanese-type ecotourism. Approximately 400,000 people visit Nabari City in Mie Prefecture, the target destination in this paper, on an annual basis with the aim of enjoying the nature. Samples used for analysis in this paper have been collected from 437-day trip visitors from amongst 500 visitors to major sight-seeing spots of Nabari City from October to December 2014. It has been found through analysis that whilst nature-based daytrip visitors in Japan were satisfied with natural environments themselves, they were less satisfied with regards to activities and services during their trips. Cluster analyses for grasping tendencies per markets were performed and disclosed.