Japan Plans Luxury Hotels for Its National Parks
Luxury hotels could soon be coming to Japan's national parks — and not everyone is happy about it.
The government has announced plans to build luxury resort hotels in all 35 of the country's national parks by 2031.
For a number of years, the country has been looking at ways to encourage tourists to visit the national parks, and to give visitors more options when they travel to the country.
But some people are worried about the impact that new hotels might have on the environment and on other tourist businesses.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement on July 19. The year 2031 was chosen because this will be the 100-year anniversary of the national park system.
Japan has welcomed more foreign visitors than ever before in the first six months of 2024, with many choosing to visit Tokyo and Osaka.
However, one of the goals of the national parks plan is to spread tourist spending across the country.
The government believes that foreign visitors will be happy to pay for luxury hotels.
But some of the owners of smaller businesses that offer accommodation close to national parks are worried they will lose customers if bigger hotels move in.
Others have said that building large hotels could damage the national parks.
But there are those who said they'd be happy to see more tourists coming to their area. The country's national parks are spread right across the islands and it's thought that visitors may be able to discover some "hidden gems."
The newest national park is in the Hidaka Mountains of Hokkaido. It's a beautiful part of the country but not one that all foreign visitors know a lot about.
