First conference held on over-tourism countermeasures

Sep 06, 2023 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Due to a rapid increase in domestic and international tourists, the government has convened its first-ever countermeasure conference to prevent the negative impacts of 'over-tourism' such as traffic congestion and noise on the lives of local residents.

Several tourist destinations currently suffer from issues such as excessive overcrowding on public transport or unauthorized entry into private property, which not only affects the locals but also travellers' satisfaction.

To address these challenges, Wednesday's conference involved relevant government agencies, including the Japan Tourism Agency.

Discussions covered initiatives such as signage promoting proper etiquette, understandable to foreign visitors, and systems to visualize congestion, among others. Examples of overseas practices, such as implementing advance reservations and crowd size limitations, were also presented.

The conference concluded that previous measures have not been sufficient and, taking into account the preferences of local regions, plans to formulate more effective measures will be made in the upcoming autumn."

Source: 日テレNEWS

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