Calculating the Economic Impact of Yamaguchi City’s Selection by The New York Times
In response to Yamaguchi City being selected as the third among “52 Places to Go in 2024” by The New York Times on January 9th, 2024, Associate Professor Shinya Kato and his laboratory students estimated the economic impact on the entire Yamaguchi Prefecture. Based on data such as the increase in tourist numbers in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, which was selected in “52 Places to Go in 2023,” they calculated the increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting Yamaguchi City in 2024. They estimated the economic impact on the entire prefecture from the expenditure of tourists as shown in the table below:
The Economic Impact on Yamaguchi Prefecture by The New York Times (2024)
| Economic Impact | |
|---|---|
| Day Trippers (Japanese) | ?3.12 billion |
| Overnight Visitors (Japanese) | ?4.09 billion |
| Foreign Tourists | ?1.79 billion |
| Total | ?8.99 billion |
*Breakdown and totals do not match due to rounding fractions.
Using the Input-Output Analysis, a commonly used method for calculating economic impact, we estimated that the selection of Yamaguchi City by The New York Times would result in an economic impact of ?8.99 billion for the entire Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2024. The breakdown of this impact includes ?3.12 billion from the increase in day trippers (Japanese), ?4.09 billion from the increase in overnight visitors (Japanese), and ?1.79 billion from the increase in foreign tourists.
Furthermore, based on this analysis, it is expected that the number of tourists to Yamaguchi City will increase by 912,000 in the year 2024 due to the effect of The New York Times, with an increase of 55,000 foreign tourists.
One characteristic of this analysis is that it was based on surveys of increases in tourist numbers at tourist destinations around the world selected in “52 Places to Go in 2023,” interviews with the Morioka City Tourism Division and the Morioka Convention Association, and surveys of tourists at tourist sites in Yamaguchi City such as Ruriko-ji Temple (a national treasure). These surveys led to the calculation of the economic impact and resulted in highly reliable estimates.
Students from the laboratory also participated in this analysis. The students who worked on this project mentioned that conducting surveys with tourists at tourist destinations and gathering information by accessing websites of tourist destinations around the world were valuable experiences.
Contact Information
Department of Tourism Policy, Faculty of Economics
Shinya Kato, Associate Professor
Email：s.kato*yamaguchi-u.ac.jp (replace * with @)