?The challenge, and objective

Convey the tourist appeal of beach resort Miyako Island during the off-season.

?Issues

Miyako Island is a small distant island with numerous beach resorts. The issue was the drop in the number of tourists during winter when it was no longer beach weather. The island’s economy relies heavily on tourism, and the decline in tourist numbers has a direct impact on a slowing down of the economy there. There was a need to identify the appeal of Miyako Island during this off-season, and convey it to others.

?Strategy and Actions

To convey the island’s appeal, a paradoxical approach was taken by implementing the idea to “Shut down the whole island.” The focus was shifted to Miyako Island as an adventure-packed place with a mysterious history and unknown ruins. With a mysterious and unique background, a hands-on attraction adventure featuring the entire island as the playing field was developed. The appeal of Miyako Island as an undiscovered gem was conveyed in line with this news.

?Results

News related to ‘the Shut down Island’ and Miyako Island was covered in mass media around the world, and achieved an amount equivalent to USD $5.93 million of free publicity. The event was highly regarded as an innovative model to reinvigorate the resort in the off-season, with comments including “The event held a strong significance from the perspective of revitalizing the community. This is because it also served to ‘generate a major source of tourism.’” (Gadget Communications).

Publicity plans were executed as initially arranged, and completed successfully. Publicity first began in November, just before the start of the off-season, when a high-impact news headline “Miyako Island was shut down!” was released to put the public spotlight on the island during the off-season. Explorers then sent out reports via social media that “Miyako Island – ‘the Shut down Island’ – had turned into an entertainment stage,” to convey the "unknown appeal and tourist sites of Miyako Island" to others. This unique approach became a hot topic by the mass media. As a result, the idea that “in addition to beaches, Miyako Island is an adventure-packed place with a mysterious history, culture and historical remains” became widely known.

?Economic knock-on effects

Economic knock-on effects of an estimated USD$2 million have been generated with this content, and certainly had a positive impact on the island’s economy. This figure is 10-times the USD$200,000 required to create the attractions, achieving a staggering 1,000% return on investment.

?Publicity exposure

News related to ‘the Shut down Island’ and Miyako Island was covered in mass media around the world, and achieved an amount equivalent to USD$5.93 million of free publicity.

?Attraction participants

Approximately 3,000 tourists signed up, which was 300% more than the target figure.