Tourists will soon have to pay a tax when leaving Japan. The corresponding law was adopted by the authorities of the Land of the Rising Sun. This is reported by The Japan Times.
The Japanese government has given final approval for the introduction of an “outbound” tourist tax. Effective January 7, 2019 All travelers leaving the country by plane or ship will be required to pay a special fee of 1,000 yen (about $9) from this year. The new tax is intended to build the necessary infrastructure and improve the quality and range of services to ensure a comfortable stay for the large number of tourists during the 2020 Olympic Games and beyond.
According to the law, children under 2 years of age and transit passengers leaving Japan within 24 hours of arrival will be exempt from paying the tax. The tourist tax will be included in the price of a plane ticket or other means of transport leaving Japan.
According to local authorities, the country has seen a sharp increase in the number of incoming tourists in recent years. By 2020, the tourist flow could reach 40 million visitors annually. The Japanese government hopes to earn up to 43 billion yen a year from the introduced tax. Tokyo expects to receive about 6 billion yen from January to March 2019, which will be spent on installing special facial recognition systems at airports.
Russians occupy seventh place among European countries in terms of tourist flow in Japan. In 2017, about 77,000 of our fellow citizens visited the country.
Source: news.turizm.ru
