Resilient tourism starts with residents: lessons from Japan

Every winter, visitors to Sapporo, Japan can watch a public square evolve from one use to another. In December, the square serves residents: seniors chat on benches, vendors set up stalls, kids cut across on their way to school. By February, the same square anchors Sapporo’s annual Snow Festival, welcoming visitors from around the world. That transformation captures a simple truth: the most resilient tourism destinations are great places to visit because they’re great places to live. Learning from Japan