Developing a resilience plan for the tourism industry in Okinawa, Japan

Okinawa, Japan, located southwest of the country, is heavily dependent on tourism, the largest economic sector in the region. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the Okinawa Prefectural Government launched the Tourism Crisis Management initiative, a multi-faceted project to reduce the disaster risks and prepare for potential crisis events to the tourism sector. The project triggered the government to develop the Okinawa Tourism Crisis Management Plan - the first of this kind officially developed by a local government in Japan.