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I would like to share an interesting and enjoyable course offered by the College of Sustainability and Tourism (ST) at APU. ST is the newest college at APU, and it offers several effective and interesting courses under its curriculum. ST students are required to earn credits from off-campus programs in order to graduate from ST, and Practicum is one of these programs. Practicum allows students to learn not only in the classroom but also practically by way of field visits. The topic of the course I took was “Exploring tourism dynamics in Beppu Park and the Kannawa area”, so students had the opportunity to visit some major tourist attractions in Beppu City.
Taking this Practicum helped me deepen my understanding of local tourism and community participation. The most impressive and interesting part of this practicum was observing how Beppu’s tourist attractions and local businesses contribute to the hot spring tourism of Beppu, highlighting the city’s potential for continued tourism growth. Moreover, as APU students, this course gave us a sense of belonging to the Beppu community as we visited sites and learned about tourism development and local businesses in the city.
The course took place both in the classroom and in the field. First, we learned the foundations of tourism, such as theories and history. After that, we had three field visits, and after each visit, we discussed what we saw and learned during the visit.
Our first field visit started at Beppu Park, a beautiful green space located in the heart of the city. It was fortunate for us that Oita Minori Festa 2025 was being held in the park that day. Oita Minori Festa is an event where local people sell various local agricultural, forestry, and fishery products from Oita Prefecture. It was very enjoyable and interesting to see interactions between tourists, local visitors, and the members of the local community, while also observing the park’s design for local community and tourism. After that, we went to Global Tower where we saw a panoramic view of Beppu’s cityscape surrounded by mountains and the sea. This provided us with an understanding of how urban planning is carried out, as we could see several tourist attractions among the steaming hot springs.
Our second visit was to the Kannawa Onsen area, one of Beppu’s most famous hot spring districts. We explored some famous attractions such as Umi Jigoku, a striking blue hot spring that embodies Beppu’s geothermal identity, and the Jigoku Onsen Museum, which offered interactive exhibitions on the history and culture of hot springs through storytelling. We also walked around the small streets among the residential houses and learned how slow tourism is different from the crowded mass tourism at famous attractions such as Umi Jigoku. This visit helped me understand how to integrate tourism with local history and heritage, while also promoting local businesses.
The final field visit was a guided tour of the Myoban Onsen Area, which is filled with the signature of thatched-roof huts called “Yunohanagoya.” A local expert guide showed us around the area and shared insights about the history, culture, and traditional practices of the Myoban Area. We also learned how the “Yunohana” bath salts are produced in the huts at Myoban Yunosato. Learning directly from locals helped us to connect academic theories to real-world experiences, demonstrating the importance of community knowledge and authenticity in sustainable tourism.
Learning about the production of bath salts (Yunohana) in Myoban
By taking this Practicum, I discovered that tourism in Beppu is not only about visiting attractions; it’s also about understanding the relationships between people, nature, and culture. This field-based learning experience enhanced my knowledge of local tourism planning and gave me a lot of insights about how I could implement several strategies, such as storytelling and community leadership, in my own country’s tourism development. I would recommend that all ST students take the Practicum course to gain knowledge through practical learning experiences.
Hi, everyone. I am Hnynn ,majoring in ST. At APU, it is excellent to meet and talk to a lot of people from diverse backgrounds. It is my honor to become an SPA. I hope you all enjoy my articles.
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