Tomonori Suzuki, head of the regional policy division for the Yugawara hot spring resort in Kanagawa Prefecture. The resort, which receives about 600,000 overnight guests annually, became the first municipality in the prefecture to introduce an accommodation tax in April. Some local governments are moving to introduce or raise the accommodation tax to secure financial resources for handling the influx of foreign tourists and promoting tourism.
© Yomiuri ShimbunVoices
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With our population and tax revenues projected to decline, securing financial resources for tourism is essential to sustain ourselves as a tourism-oriented town.
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4 Comments
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sakurasuki
Don't forget there are significant number being received from hard working foreign workers.
YeahRight
I will never understand why politicians and bureaucrats think that increasing costs will be an incentive to visit.
HopeSpringsEternal
Raising taxes a risk, they're counting on the weak Yen continuing, because if so, foreign tourists will continue to flock to Japan, as 161/US$ is a serious discount for most
Aly Rustom
Exactly.