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Japan town takes action on tourist overcrowding
A well-known Japanese hot spring town is the latest to take action on overtourism.
Ginzan Onsen will begin capping the number of day trippers in town during the winter peak season.
The town’s onsen is one of the most popular in Japan, attracting over 300,000 visitors each year.
It is also known for its scenic mountain views.
Town officials decided to take action after some altercations over parking spots and arguments over visitors taking selfies at the hot springs.
“Many guests became angry over good spots for the purpose of taking pictures, leading to traffic rules being broken, cheating, and making people seek better places and easier ways than others,” the onsen said.
Starting in the New Year, visitors entering the onsen town after 5pm must purchase a ticket.
Also, visitors without confirmed bookings at local hotels will be banned after 8 pm.
Day trippers driving into town must use designated parking areas outside the town and take shuttle buses.
“The area for taking photos is narrow, and sometimes visitors have a dispute with each other telling them to move out of the way. There have been times when people almost fell into the river after bumping into each other,” said Hiroyuki Ishii, of the Ginzan Onsen Overtourism Measures Project Office.
Several areas in Japan have been forced to implement measures to ease growing resentment of tourists by locals.
This has included tourists hassling Geishas in Kyoto and selfie obsessed tourists causing congestion at Fujikawaguchiko, near Mount Fuji.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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