Tokyo’s hotel sector is fighting plans to replace the city’s long-standing flat-rate lodging tax with a percentage-based levy that could significantly increase costs for tourists and short-term visitors.
Analysts and industry groups argue the proposed three per cent tax unfairly targets overnight guests and could dampen Japan’s domestic travel market at a time when locals are already squeezed by a weak yen and rising living costs.
Under the current system introduced in 2002, travellers are charged a flat tax of 100 yen (US$0.63) per night if their room costs between 10,000 yen and 15,000 yen. The rate rises to 200 yen for rooms priced above that.
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But Tokyo’s metropolitan government now wants to scrap that model in favour of a proportional system that reflects actual room rates – a move critics say disproportionately affects travellers staying at higher-end accommodation.
The revamped tax would also apply to “minpaku” – Japan’s term for Airbnb-style short-stay rentals – which were previously not subject to the hotel tax.
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Masaharu Naruse, president of the Tokyo chapter of the Japan Hotel Association (JHA), warned the shift would place an unfair burden on lodging guests while ignoring other types of visitors who also use city services.