The city government of Sapporo has put forth a proposal for a new tax targeted at hotel users to commence in April 2026, with the intention of funding various tourism-related measures. This initiative is particularly significant as it seeks to assist the city in managing issues related to overtourism, as well as helping to counterbalance a reduction in revenue attributed to Sapporo's shrinking population.
Under the proposed plan by Sapporo, hotels in the city would be required to add either 200 yen ($1.25) or 500 yen to the room bills, depending on the nightly rate, to gather funds for the designated tourism purposes. This two-tiered tax approach is designed to make it more palatable for hotel guests while also reducing the administrative duties for hotel operators, although all hotels will be subject to the tax except for bookings associated with school trips.
The projected objective of implementing this tax is to generate an estimated amount of 2.75 billion yen each year for Sapporo, which would then be allocated towards improving accessibility to public facilities, enhancing multilingual information dissemination, expanding the use of cashless payments, and implementing measures to address overtourism. Additionally, hotel operators will have the option to receive a partial refund to help with the costs incurred in collecting the tax on behalf of the city government.