Risk Communication to Tourists: Towards the Definition of a Research Agenda for a more Effective Disaster Preparedness in Japan

The Japanese government has recently demonstrated interest in increasing tourists’ disaster preparedness. This is in part due to the need to develop an efficient disaster preparedness plan for the upcoming Olympic Games in 2020 that will be held in Tokyo. The aim of this paper is to present opportunities for future research able to facilitate a more effective risk communication between communicators and tourists regarding disaster preparedness information in Japan. The article is based on an analysis of the literature. The paper identifies research gaps in four main research topics including tourists’ risk information seeking process, cross cultural analysis, the role of tourism suppliers within the risk communication process, and comparison of mental models of communicators and tourists. Opportunities for further research are also provided.