Hachijojima aims to inspire people to visit the island through diverse forms of media, including a talent directory and a photo book
Since FY2018, Hachijojima has implemented various measures to promote the island's appeal under the concept of "Seven Colors of Hachijo: A rainbow-colored island where you can restore your colors." The island held a monitor tour for off-island restaurant owners and created a photo book of producers and other people they encountered there. They also created a "restoring your colors"-themed tour plan that would make visitors want to stay longer during the off-season to experience the island's nature and people, and held a monitor tour for Japanese and foreign visitors.
In FY2020, based on the efforts of the past two years, Hachijojima decided to create a tool for promoting the island's appeal at each stage before, during, and after a trip as a means of creating opportunities for visitors to encounter the colorful nature and diverse people of the island.
To promote the island's appeal and inspire people to visit the island before their trip, they plan to expand the "photo book" into a series focused on the "Seven Colors of Hachijo Talent Directory (tentative name)," an Instagram archive of the charming people who live on the island, while cooperating with restaurants off-island.
To encourage visitors to explore the island during their trip and become repeat visitors, they plan to proceed with the creation of the "Seven Colors of Hachijo Palette (tentative name)" as a tool for exploration that will connect islanders and island visitors to each other.
Their goal is to increase the number of fans who will become frequent repeat visitors to the island by creating a system that enables visitors to fully feel the island's charm before and during their stay on the island.
At a follow-up meeting held in October, participants prepared for the creation of the "Seven Colors of Hachijo Talent Directory (tentative name)" by listing island talents that could be introduced in the directory. They discussed individuals who would agree with the aim of efforts to promote the island and cooperate in sending out information, and came up with around 30 candidates. Setting up an Instagram account to introduce these island talents and linking posts to each talent's social media account and/or website will help to further spread information.
Going forward, Hachijojima will continue to work on creating the "Seven Colors of Hachijo Talent Directory (tentative name)," with full-scale operation scheduled to begin in FY2021.
They will also improve the content of the photo book that they have been creating since FY2019 so that it will become a more versatile collection of photos that can be installed in other restaurants and even non-restaurant facilities.
