Paper short abstract:

Adaptive reuse of vacant buildings as tourist lodgings can contribute to sustainability and townscape preservation. This paper will analyze the reuse of vacant buildings as accommodation from the aspects of sustainability and tourism gentrification through the example of Onomichi City.

Paper long abstract:

Vacant buildings (akiya) in Japan have received attention as a by-product of demographic decline and a threat to neighbourhood life. On the other hand, the inbound tourism boom, while interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has created a shortage in accommodation facilities. Renovation of traditional machiya and other vacant buildings as lodgings can address this shortage and at the same time offer international visitors a unique Japanese experience. This kind of adaptive reuse contributes to sustainability as housing stock is recycled instead of wasted; it also helps to preserve townscapes and landmark buildings. While it may rejuvenate towns and rural areas facing severe depopulation, it can nevertheless lead to rising land prices and commercialization of residential areas, in other words trigger tourism gentrification. This paper will analyze adaptive reuse of vacant buildings as tourist accommodation from the viewpoint of sustainability and tourism gentrification through the example of Onomichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture. It will examine factors that lead to renovation, actors involved, methods employed and types of tourists attracted to evaluate the environmental, social and economic effects on tourist destinations. Onomichi City is popular as a domestic and international tourist destination combining old houses and temples scattered on the hillside, restaurants and promenades along the seafront and a retro shopping district in-between. A lack of business hotels common in most Japanese cities combined with a large stock of vacant buildings create ideal conditions for adaptive reuse as accommodation facility. Research was conducted through analysis of PR material from each facility, semi-structured interviews with lodging owners and managers and a questionnaire survey of tourists staying in the lodgings. Results show a large variety of building types and actors involved, leading to increased diversification of the types of tourists attracted to the city. On the other hand, facilities rarely emphasize sustainability as an appealing factor for tourists. Tourists’ interest in and awareness of the fact that they stayed in a renovated building differed depending on their nationality and the type of lodging. Diversity of actors and building types emerged as a key factor in the adaptive reuse of vacant buildings as tourist accommodation.