Japan Suggests Charging Higher Entry Fee For Foreigners At Popular Spots In Its Bid To Control The Heavy Flow Of Tourists

We love to travel, no news there. But we also understand how overtourism can hamper the beauty of the place and also annoy the locals. And that’s exactly what’s happening in Japan right now. Japan is seeing a flood of tourists this year and this overcrowding has prompted them to take some serious measures to counter this growing issue. Some people have suggested charging higher prices for foreigners at popular tourist places to control the crowd without losing their income.

Japan Suggest Charging Foreigners More To Control Tourist Influx

Over the last few months, Japan has emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations. While this is amazing and has helped improve the country’s economy, it has also led to overtourism in Japan. The locals are now fed up with overcrowding and poor behaviour by tourists and are looking for ways to control the visitor flow in Japan. In their bid to control overcrowding without losing income, some city mayors in Japan have suggested charging higher prices for foreigners.

This suggestion comes from the mayor of Himeji city. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the city’s mayor Hideyasu Kiyomoto, has mentioned that he would like to start charging foreign tourists six times more than locals to visit the city’s famous Himeji Castle. As per his idea, foreigners will have to pay about $30 (₹2,508) to visit the famed castle, while locals can continue visiting it for just $5 (₹418).

His idea has been backed by Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, Expressing his support for the idea, Hirofumi Yoshimura said he’d like to come up with a similar plan for Osaka Castle.

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Other Steps Taken By Japanese Authorities To Control Overtourism

As per the Japan National Tourism Organization, foreign tourist arrivals in Japan went up to 3.04 million in May. This is a 9.6% increase from May 2019 levels. Seeing this massive increase in tourist flow, Japan has been taking various steps to control this over tourism. Besides their latest suggestion to charge higher entry fees from foreigners, the country has implemented several ideas in the past.

Earlier this year, Kyoto decided to ban parts of the historical Gion Geisha district for foreign tourists. Yamanashi prefecture, too, limited the number of people allowed to climb the mountain this summer. Just last month, Fujikawaguchiko, a town at the base of Mt. Fuji, put up a massive mesh net to prevent tourists from taking photos from there and disrupting the town’s peace.

These are quite interesting ideas by Japanese officials to counter the issue of overtourism. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!

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