TCVB introduces 11 sustainable programmes for corporate events

The Japanese business travel market offers vast opportunities to grow; Tokyo pictured

The Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) has released sustainable offerings to enable business event organisers to hold conferences in the Japanese capital in a more socially and environmentally responsible way.

Entitled Sustainability Experience in Tokyo, the initiative aims to introduce the city’s rich culture and history in a unique, thought-provoking way via 11 programmes designed to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Programmes have a focus on nature, food, crafts and physical activities.

Tokyo is pushing the sustainable envelope and is keen to show its guests how they do it

According to the TCVB, the idea is to allow business visitors to “enjoy Tokyo charms and at the same time contribute to the future of the city”.

Kazuko Toda, senior director of the business events team, said the TCVB is “confident that the programmes will make the guests’ stay in Tokyo most satisfying. We also hope the meeting organisers will make good use of the programmes”.

One experience explores how bees travel from the Imperial Palace and Hamariku Gardens to a sustainable hive two kilometres away on a rooftop in Ginza where their honey is harvested. Here, participants can learn about the vital role that bees play in ecosystems and enjoy a honey tasting.

Staying with the theme of sustainable food, another experience allows participants to learn and use traditional methods to make nori, dried Japanese seaweed, which was first produced in Tokyo in the 17th century.

Also included are several programmes related to the reuse and recycling of kimonos and other traditional or natural materials to make Japanese souvenirs. Participants can also join a clean-up of Tokyo’s waterways or a walking tour of key sites.

As an add-on, the information pack features tips on how events can be organised more consciously, such as by using local vegetables. It also notes that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has created more than 800 drinking stations across the capital, offering free tap water to reduce consumption of bottled water.

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