Beyond Flowers and Snow. [Furano City, Hokkaido] Promoting the Creation of New Stay Value Centered on Wine

Newspaper advertisement visuals created to convey the charm of Furano as a wine-producing region to more people, in addition to flowers and snow.

Furano City, Hokkaido (Mayor: Takeshi Kita, hereafter "Furano City"), is widely recognized as a tourist destination represented by flowers and snow, but it has faced the challenge of how to deliver the seasonal charms that lie in between.

Summer lavender, winter skiing, and magnificent natural landscapes. Furano has the power to attract many people. On the other hand, however, there has been a demand for effective solutions utilizing local resources to address issues such as tourist demand skewing towards summer and winter, difficulty in moving around the area, and the inability to connect scattered attractions into a cohesive stay value.

As Furano City works to address these issues, it is putting effort into initiatives centered around wine.

By using the wine nurtured in the local climate as a gateway, and broadening the perspective to include the region's agriculture, food, landscapes, and human activities, it might be possible to deliver the charm of Furano from a different angle than before. Based on this idea, the Furano City Grape and Fruit Tree Research Institute (Furano Winery), together with wineries in the Furano area, have been polishing the stay experience centered on wine.

In FY2026, a special website introducing wineries was published by the Furano-Biei Broad-area Tourism Promotion Council, initiating efforts to comprehensively broadcast the charms of agriculture, food, landscapes, and climate of the surrounding areas, with the wineries scattered across the Furano area at its core.

The initiatives Furano City has been advancing are moving to a new stage, overlapping with this broad-area broadcasting.

"There are flowers. There is snow. There is also wine. That is Furano."
This phrase embodies the desire to deliver another charm of Furano, beyond the impression of just flowers and snow, to more people.

"There are flowers, there is snow, there is also wine. That is Furano" Special Site

Conveying agriculture, food, and landscapes comprehensively with wine as the axis
Among the constituent municipalities of the Furano-Biei Broad-area Tourism Promotion Council, wineries are located in Kamifurano Town and Nakafurano Town in addition to Furano City, but Biei Town, Minamifurano Town, and Shimukappu Village also have agriculture as their core industry and possess high-quality agricultural/livestock products and food resources. Encountering the ingredients nurtured in this land and tasting them amidst this scenery. That entire experience forms the charm of the region.
The special site conveys the value of the entire Furano-Biei area comprehensively, focusing on the regions where wineries are located, and including the power of agriculture and food in the surrounding areas.

A landscape that lets you feel the climate and expanse of Furano viewed from the Furano Wine fields.

Because it is an agricultural region, the combination of wine and food enhances regional value
The strength of the Furano-Biei area is not just its landscapes. A diverse array of high-quality agricultural and livestock products, such as vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meats, is another.
The combination of wine and local ingredients does more than just enhance tourism; it provides an opportunity to reassess the value of the agricultural products themselves. When high-quality local ingredients are discussed alongside wine, their value can be conveyed more multi-dimensionally.
This communication is also an attempt to broadly convey the region's value as an agricultural area by connecting diverse local resources through wine.

Turning information broadcasting into actual stay value
The initiatives Furano City has promoted so far have emphasized connecting local resources to actual stay value. While facing issues such as tourist demand leaning toward summer and winter, difficulty navigating the region, and turning scattered attractions into stay value, the city has been creating systems to experience the region with wine as the central axis.

A stay experience tasting wine and local food in a space surrounded by vineyards.

One specific example is a stay experience that combines encounters with wineries, food, landscapes, and producers. By touring the region with a wine-knowledgeable guide and touching upon the background of the land's agriculture, food, and scenery, efforts have been made to allow visitors to deeply appreciate the charms of Furano City and the Furano-Biei area.
In Furano City, which possesses tourism resources like flowers and snow, stay experiences that savor the depth of the region centered on wine are expected to contribute to improving tourist satisfaction, extending stay duration, and increasing consumption within the area.

A moment tasting wine with the scenery is a stay experience unique to the Furano-Biei area.

Future Developments
Furano City plans to use the launch of this special website as an opportunity to further enhance its appeal centered around wine...