Hokkaido’s beautiful floral parks are popular with locals and tourists. — T. KOHEI/Pixabay
The government of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island that’s very popular with domestic and international tourists, will introduce a lodging tax of up to ¥500 (RM14) per night from April 2026, joining a growing number of prefectures and municipalities across Japan using such revenues to improve infrastructure and transportation amid a tourism boom.
With around 20 local governments in Hokkaido, including the prefectural capital Sapporo, preparing to implement their own accommodation taxes, lodgers at hotels and inns will face double taxation, Kyodo News Agency reported.
According to an ordinance adopted by the Hokkaido assembly in December, visitors to the island will be asked to pay ¥100 (RM2.85) per night for a room charge of less than ¥20,000 (RM570) a night, while ¥200 (RM5.70) will be imposed for a charge from ¥20,000 to under ¥50,000 (RM1,426) a night per room. For a room charge per night of ¥50,000 or above, they will be required to pay ¥500.
The imposition of a lodging tax is expected to generate around ¥4.5bil (RM1.28bil) for the Hokkaido government.
Among the municipalities in Hokkaido, Sapporo will request ¥200 per night for a room charge of less than ¥50,000 and ¥500 for fees exceeding ¥50,000. This would mean a hotel guest with a ¥50,000 room charge would have to pay ¥1,000 (RM28.50) in lodging tax, a night.
In Kutchan, where the popular Niseko ski resort is located, a flat rate of 2% of the room charge is collected from visitors.
Starting with Tokyo in 2002, accommodation taxes have already been introduced in Osaka and Fukuoka prefectures, as well as municipalities including Kanazawa and Kyoto. – Bernama-Kyodo
Thailand flourishes
Meanwhile, over 150,000 tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have spent their Christmas and New Year holidays in southern Thailand, contributing more than THB1bil (RM130.4mil) to the local economy.
The president of the Hatyai-Songkhla Hotel Association, Sittipong Sitthipatrapha, said Thailand remains a preferred destination for tourists from these three countries due to its diverse and attractive tourism offerings and affordable local cuisine.
“More than 30,000 hotel rooms have been fully booked by both domestic and international tourists in southern Thailand since Dec 25, particularly in Hat Yai and Songkhla,” he said earlier this week.
Popular tourist attractions in Songkhla province include Samila Beach, Songkhla Old Town, and the Khlong Hae Floating Market. In Pattani province, key attractions include the Clock Tower Roundabout and Lang Kwaeng Road.
A Malaysian tourist, Yusniza Mohd Yussof from Penang, who was met in Pattani, said she and her family chose to holiday in southern Thailand because of its proximity, delicious food, and affordable accommodation.
“My family and I often travel to Thailand because the food there is delicious, cheap, and reasonably priced. On top of that, hotels are also affordable and comfortable,” she said.
Yusniza added that her family particularly enjoys visiting Pattani and Narathiwat due to the wide variety of halal food and the friendly locals in these areas.
Earlier, Thailand’s minister of Tourism and Sports, Sorawong Thienthong, announced that 35 million international tourists visited Thailand from Jan 1 to Dec 29, 2024, generating over THB1.66 trillion (RM216.23bil) in tourism revenue.
He noted that Chinese tourists topped the list with over 6.7 million arrivals, followed by Malaysians in second place with 4.9 million, India (2.1 million), South Korea (1.8 million), and Russia (1.7 million). – Bernama
