Japan verdreifacht die Ausreisesteuer, um den Overtourism zu bekämpfen

They should make it their mind. They want 60 million foreign tourists per year by 2030, but also talk about overtourism. They should just admit they just want the money without having to deal with actual tourists.

Wtf is a departure tax?

How about actually promoting and making areas outside of the 3 places people go more accessible?

Nobody knows that the Sanyo Sanin pass exists and gives you access to vast swathes of west Japan. People don’t travel to places like Sendai which is a travesty.

There’s not an over tourism problem if you don’t just concentrate everyone in the same spots. Spread the love to the regions.

Even if they raised it to ¥10,000, it’s still peanuts to Chinese, Americans, and Europeans.

“Previously set at ¥1,000, the tax has increased to ¥3,000 for all travelers departing Japan, regardless of nationality. The levy applies to both foreign visitors and Japanese nationals leaving the country.”

If they really want to make money off of tourists, then they need to start charging money for tourist visa instead of this. The US charges $40 for its tourist visa via the ESTA program. Japan should implement something like this instead of a blanket charge.

From a tourist perspective- maybe make it easier to reserve Shinkansen and train tickets and spell everything out like I was five, push for better websites for booking smaller / off the beaten track hotels. I have been frustrated trying to book smaller hotels as the Google Translate just doesn’t make sense.
I’ve been to Japan several times (work related) and while it’s getting better, the mental load to go off the beaten track is high.