Resilience and Tourism in Natural Disaster-Affected Destinations:

Abstract

Tourism destinations often rely on natural resources, highlighting the importance of coping with disasters and maintaining resilience. Rather than solely focusing on the resilience of tourism itself, it should be viewed within the broader context of the resilience of the social-ecological system. This study examined how tourism contributed to community resilience in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The research question was as follows: What is the role of tourism in fostering community resilience? This case study focuses on “Hamaguri-Do,” located in Hamagurihama, Ishinomaki, and Miyagi. Hamaguri-Do is developing a new socio-ecological system through tourism initiatives with local resources and businesses focusing on community issues. Findings obtained from interviews, aligned with the model, indicate that tourism plays a pivotal role in resilience by leveraging disasters as opportunities that open up the community to the outside world and 1) attract visitors to the area, 2) cultivate value through co-creation and communication among residents and tourists, and 3) facilitate the circulation of natural and social ecosystems.

Keywords

• local community
• social-ecological system
• value co-creation