This popular Japanese island will start charging tourist tax soon

The island of Miyajima, which is one of Japan’s popular tourist hotspots country’s sacred sites, will likely introduce tourist tax soon. This island is a short ferry ride away from Hiroshima, which is a popular site for day trip visitors, and is noted for its well-known attractions, such as Mount Misen, the 12-century Itsukushima Shrine, and the very-popular Torii gate.

Home to the UNESCO World Heritage site, which is the sacred shrine of Itsukushima, known for its floating ‘Torii gate’, the island attracts more than 4.3 million visitors every year.
As per the new Mayor Taro Matsumoto, it is necessary to secure new financial resources in order to consistently maintain the quality and status of the island as a tourist spot. Matsumoto added that the tax will likely be imposed by the spring of 2021.
Reportedly, there are possibly three methods for collecting the money, i.e., charging travellers who are visiting the island via ferry, increasing the tax for ferry operators, or collecting the amount directly from the tourists when they start using the facilities of the island.
Japan is in quite an interesting spot right now as foreign tourism rates have gone up, as it is hosting the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. However, the inequality between popular tourist attractions in rural areas with regard to funding is becoming more noticeable, and with the rise of urbanisation and aging population, certain areas and groups are struggling to be in the race.

However, Miyajima will not be the first one to impose a tourist tax, because as per the trends of this year, other international destinations have also introduced tourism taxes, such as Venice, New Zealand, Cabo San Lucas, and Bali.