The town of Kutchan, part of the Niseko tourism zone that includes a number of popular ski resorts in Hokkaido, introduced a 2 percent levy on Friday for stays at all lodging facilities in its jurisdiction, marking the first rollout of a proportional accommodation tax system in Japan.

The tax, which also applies to private lodgings, is expected to bring in revenue of up to ¥300 million ($2.76 million) per year for the town. Authorities plan to use the funds to better accommodate the increasing number of foreign visitors flocking to the area, with measures that would include training multilingual staff and improving the public transport system.

According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, Kutchan is the fifth government to introduce an accommodation tax, following Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture and the cities of Kyoto and Kanazawa. Fukuoka Prefecture and two of its cities, Kitakyushu and Fukuoka, have also enacted ordinances for an accommodation tax. However, in all of these locations the levy has been set at a fixed amount irrespective of the price of accommodation.