Brand-new theme park in Japan charges foreign tourists 25 percent more than locals for tickets
On July 25, a brand-new theme park opened in the town of Nakijin in Okinawa Prefecture. Called Junglia, the park is obviously looking to highlight its lush greenery and outdoor activities, but it's clear from the preview video that Junglia also wants to present itself as a sort of real-world Jurassic Park, only achieving its dinosaurs through animatronics instead of cloning.
Junglia also offers luxurious resort accommodation and spa amenities, boasting the Guinness World Records-certified largest infinity public pool on the planet, dance performances, and dazzling fireworks shows.
As you've probably noticed, these are all things with pretty universal appeal, not the sort of thing one needs an intrinsic connection to or studied understanding of Japanese culture to enjoy. And sure enough, Junglia's official website has full English, Chinese, and Korean support, showing that the park is ready to receive visitors from overseas.
Oh, and it's also ready to charge foreign tourists significantly higher prices for tickets.
If you hop onto the Junglia website's top page, clicking the menu icon in the top right will bring up a spot to click for ticket information. If you're navigating the page's Japanese-language version, it'll inform you that the after-tax prices for tickets to the amusement park area are:
● Adults: 6.930 yen
● Children age 4-11: 4,950 yen
However, if you're looking at the English, Chinese, or Korean Junglia site, it'll instead tell you that the prices are:
● Adults: 8.800 yen
● Children age 4-11: 5,940 yen
That's because Junglia has an official policy of charging higher admission prices for foreign travelers. The deciding factor isn't ethnicity, but residency, as foreign residents of Japan are eligible for the lower prices. The website indicates though, that they will need to be able to show proof of residence in Japan, with the list of admissible documents and associated stipulations listed as:
● Individual Number Card ● Driver's license, Health Insurance Card, Passport ● Certificate of residence ● Student identification card ● Residence card ● Other official identification cards issued by public organizations Please prepare valid documents that include your name and current address. If your name, current address, etc. are written on the reverse side, that part is also necessary.
If these documents alone cannot prove your current address, please also present a utility bill or receipt (issued within the last 3 months) that clearly shows your name and address, such as an electricity, water, gas, or telephone bill.
It's unclear if all foreign residents will be required to present such papers before being allowed to enter the park with a lower-priced ticket, or if whether or not to perform checks will be left up to the discretion of employees working the entrance gates.
Also worth noting is that in addition to the amusement park area-only tickets discussed above, Junglia also has tickets just for its spa area, as well as combo tickets for both sections of the facility, implying separate ticket gates. These tickets also have tiered pricing for domestic and international travelers, so foreign residents of Japan may need to show their papers twice if they're looking to have the full Junglia experience.
▼ So make sure your resident card doesn't fall out of your pocket if you go ziplining before you hit up that infinity pool.
With a 1,870-yen difference between the amusement area adult tickets, Junglia is tacking more than 25 percent extra onto the price for foreign tourists. It's not hard to see why the park's management would be attracted to such a plan. With the yen currently being historically weak against foreign currencies, the difference converts to around US$13, which probably isn't going to seem like all that much when folded into the total cost of an overseas trip. Junglia's managers appear to have designed their pricing plan as a way to maximize revenue by charging foreign tourists a price that locals would balk at, while keeping the prices for domestic guests at a figure they're willing to pay.
With overtourism and rising consumer prices being two increasingly common complaints among Japanese people, Junglia's two-tiered pricing hasn't caused much controversy yet. However, unlike other situations that have arisen recently, such as Himeji Castle instilling two-tiered pricing for locals and out-of-towners or Nintendo creating a lower-priced Switch 2 for use inside Japan, Junglia can't claim it's charging overseas tourists more to cope with unexpected maintenance cost increases from a spike in visitor numbers or to prevent international scalping, so this looks like a simple case of trying to boost its bottom line by grabbing some extra cash from foreigners, something that we haven't seen any major theme park in Japan do up until now.
Source: Junglia (1, 2), PR Times
Images: PR Times
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