Japan has broken its tourism record every year since the pandemic, prompting major changes in travel services and costs. Starting July 1, the country's 'sayonara tax' will triple from ¥1,000 (about $6) to ¥3,000 ($18.50). 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.
New Private Cabins on Shinkansen Trains
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.
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.
Global Heatwaves Affect Summer Travel
The solstice was this week, but it has already felt like peak summer for many of us around the world. Record high temperatures across Europe, Asia and the US are affecting travelers during the peak season. If you already have your summer vacation planned, don’t panic. We have some helpful tips for navigating travel during hot weather, such as visiting outdoor attractions early in the morning, taking breaks, and staying hydrated not just by drinking water but by eating salads and water-filled fruits like melons and grapes.
Unique Summer Foods and Destinations
One of the classic summer vacation foods is ice cream, but eating it fast enough to avoid melting is always a challenge. In Turkey, they’ve solved that problem with dondurma, a stretchy, chewy ice cream that never drips. It comes in gorgeous Mediterranean flavors like pistachio and sour cherry.
Palau, a country in the northern Pacific Ocean near Taiwan and the Philippines, only gets a few thousand tourists every year. Its most famous attraction is a crater lake filled with a rare, nontoxic jellyfish species that you might recognize from being used as a standard Mac computer wallpaper. The country also played a small but significant role in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Peleliu, one of Palau’s islands, was occupied by the Japanese. Late in the war, the US invaded the island in a multi-week siege that caused thousands of deaths on both sides.
OPPO Pakistan and Ufone/PTCL Group Enter Strategic Partnership
In other news, OPPO Pakistan and Ufone/PTCL Group have entered a landmark strategic partnership agreement. Details of the partnership were not disclosed in the source article.
