Promotion of World Heritage Sites in Kyoto, Japan

This paper reports on a study of perceptions and challenges in promoting less popular World Heritage Sites in the City of Kyoto, Japan. According to the Kyoto Promotion Office, national and international tourists visit the most common World Heritage Sites of Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Nijo-jo castle but many miss the opportunity of visiting and getting to know other World Heritage Sites within the city. However, attracting tourists to less visited cultural sites is key to the sustainability, development, and survival of all cultural World Heritages Sites in the city. Prior to the covid-19 pandemic, overtourism was a challenge for the middle sized but compact City of Kyoto as most people that visited the city seemed to be concentrated in the same places and attractions. Meanwhile, the lack of knowledge, promotion, and marketing of less popular World Heritages Sites in Kyoto limited the sustainability, conservation, and preservation of those cultural attractions. Therefore, promoting, branding, and marketing of less popular World Heritage Sites will boost visitation, contribute to their conservation, survival and will increase repeat visits to the City of Kyoto overall. Meanwhile, the collaboration of several actors is key to the successful dissemination of information about these sites.