Established in 2006, Center for Advanced Tourism Studies is Japan's first national university tourism research institute. It is said that tourism contributes greatly to SDGs goals 1. No poverty, 8. Decent work, 11. Sustainable community development, 15. Protect the richness of land, 17. Partnerships, etc. Research and study, undergraduate and graduate education, training of destination managers through course certification programs, building networks of research institutes and researchers, transmitting information related to tourism, industry-university collaboration and social collaboration, etc. We aim to become a COE in tourism studies as an advanced research institute that advances to

So far, our center has concluded 12 partnership agreements with various sectors such as local governments inside and outside of Hokkaido, private companies, wide area DMOs, etc., and is conducting joint research on regional tourism promotion and sustainable development.
In addition, as the first Japanese university to officially join the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), we actively promote collaborative programs with overseas universities, local governments, ministries and agencies, and report research results at international conferences. We are working on solving global issues through tourism and exploring new themes. Social contributions such as support for developing countries through international cooperation in tourism development, promotion of Ainu culture through forest utilization and tourism (Biratori Town), international joint research on tourism of the indigenous Sami, international joint research on content tourism for cross-cultural dialogue, Participation in Hokkaido University GI-CoRE is one example.

Furthermore, a series of online forums were held for the general public to question the sustainable relationship between local communities and tourism, and the transcripts of these lectures were compiled into a series at the end of the fiscal year and made available online (HUSCAP).