This week in travel news: tourists are coping with extreme heat, one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations is tripling its tourist tax, and a gold bar is up for grabs in Finland.
Japan has broken its tourism record every year since the pandemic. As more and more people take the country’s famous Shinkansen high-speed trains, Japan’s rail system has rolled out a fancy new product: private rooms.
Starting this October, some travelers going from Tokyo to cities like Kyoto and Osaka will have the option to purchase a ticket for the “Supreme Class.” These are private cabins with lockable doors that guarantee privacy on board, and the largest rooms even have small sofas. Travelers in these cars can adjust the lighting and air conditioning to their own preferences, too.
That’s not all. A new sleeper car service called “Luna Azul” (Spanish for “blue moon”) will offer lie-flat seats along the Tohoku route, which carries people to prefectures like Aomori and Akita in northeast Japan. It’ll debut sometime next year.
However, not all the changes in Japanese tourism will necessarily be welcomed by visitors. The country’s “sayonara tax” will increase from ¥1,000 (about $6) to ¥3,000 ($18.50) on July 1. The fee is added to the cost of airfare, not requested in person. According to the Japanese government, the money raised from the tax goes toward supporting infrastructure.
