The recent years have seen tourism-related issues attendant to a rapid rise in the number of tourists visiting Kyoto from abroad. These issues included congestion in certain tourist spots, as well as problems caused by differences in cultures and customs, resulting in interference in the daily lives of residents.

At the time when Kyoto City and DMO KYOTO were working to find solutions to these tourism issues, travel demand plummeted due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infectious disease, putting Kyoto tourism in a critical situation. Amid this crisis, these organizations are now preparing for the recovery of Kyoto tourism with plans aimed to preclude the reoccurrence of previous tourism-related issues, seeking approaches to avoid reproducing the situation of tourism prior to COVID-19.

This code of conduct places importance on the daily lives of residents and local culture to promote tourism that could contribute to the local community in a manner that will improve the quality-of-life of the residents while also allowing the visitors to enjoy the charms of Kyoto.

This code of conduct lays down values and guidelines to be cherished and implemented by all persons involved in tourism in Kyoto, promoting mutual respect among the tourism industry and its workers, tourists, and residents, while facilitating their mutual cooperation in the preservation and transmission of this irreplaceable city and its culture for future generations.

In November, 2020, Kyoto City and DMO KYOTO established the Code of Conduct for Sustainable Tourism in Kyoto. This code of conduct was drawn up in response to the“Kyoto Declaration on Tourism and Culture,”the resulting document of the 4th UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture that was held in Kyoto in December, 2019. The Kyoto Declaration pointed out the necessity for a code of conduct to raise the ethical awareness of all persons involved in tourism, in order to promote sustainable development of tourism and culture.