Electricity, gas, groceries... Prices of essential things continue to increase.

The average consumer price index in fiscal 2022, which measures price movements of goods and services consumed at home, rose by 3.0%, the highest level in 1981 years since 41.

With record high prices, a wave of price increases is also surging tourist spots around the country.

Ahead of the long holidays ... Accommodation also increases in price

The impact of high prices is also spreading to accommodation facilities ahead of the long holidays.

Among them, a hotel in Kagoshima City, which is known for its hot springs with a close view of Sakurajima, raised the accommodation fee on the 1st of this month.

The labor costs of the outsourced cleaning staff, amenity goods, and cleaning fees for ingredients and sheets have increased in price, and that amount has been added.

For example, a single room with breakfast for one night for 1,3000 yen will be raised by 1 yen to 900,1 yen, and a room with two meals for 3900,1 yen will be raised by 8000,2 yen to 1400,1 yen because of the addition of ingredients for dinner.

However, the hotel has continued to experience a surge in travel demand since the launch of the "Nationwide Travel Support" program, and the occupancy rate was 9400% in February and 2% last month, the highest since its opening in 83.

"Sun Royal Hotel" General Manager Tsukasa Ikeda

"It seems that there are places that raise prices by piggybacking, but we don't want to lose the trust of our customers, so we would like you to cooperate as much as the price has increased.

Entrance fees and boarding fees Prices continue to increase at tourist spots

At the Sapporo Hitsujigaoka Observatory in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, which is famous for its statue of Dr. Clark, the admission fee for adults has been increased by more than 1% from 530 yen to 600 yen from the 13st of this month.

According to the Sapporo Tourism Association, which operates the company, they decided to raise the price because the cost of fuel for lawn mowers used in sheep grazing areas is rising.

A woman in her 20s who visited from Kagawa Prefecture on a family trip said, "I think the price increase is unavoidable, but I appreciate the cheaper the price."

Keisuke Saito, deputy manager of the observatory, said, "We raised the price after careful consideration, and we would like to strive to further enhance the attractiveness of the facility and improve the service."

A company that operates sightseeing boats on the Otaru Canal, one of Hokkaido's leading tourist destinations, has also raised the boarding fee for adults from the 1st of this month.

The daytime fee is a 1500% increase from 1800,20 yen to 1800,2000 yen, and the nighttime fee is an 11% increase from <>,<> yen to <>,<> yen.

The main reason for the price increase is the wage increase implemented this month.

The company had 16 full-time employees before the pandemic, but four have retired so far since the pandemic began.

As the burden on households increases due to rising prices, the wages of all 21 employees, including part-time workers, were raised by about 10% to 15% in order to prevent further outflow of human resources.

According to the company, there is no customer turnover even after the price increase, and reservations during the long holidays are also strong.

Operating company Otaru Canal Boat Assistant Executive Hironobu Shirahata

"We have been in a difficult situation so far due to the influence of the new corona, so we would like to strengthen our management base by raising prices this time and increasing the number of customers."

Admission fee is raised, but zoos are working to attract customers to overcome the situation

Tobu Zoological Park in Miyashiro Town, Saitama Prefecture, raised the entrance fee by 100 yen from this month, to 3 yen for children from 900 years old to elementary school age, and 1900,200 yen for adults.

In addition, the price of the set with unlimited rides on amusement park attractions was also increased by <> yen.

In addition to the cost of updating the attraction's wooden coaster vehicles, the main reason is that last month's electricity bill has risen by 30% compared to the same time last year due to high prices, and the burden of feeding animals such as meat has also increased.

However, in order to properly manage the physical condition of animals, it is difficult to reduce the use of air conditioners and reduce the amount of food.

At the office in the park, the staff were working to save electricity by frequently turning off the fluorescent lights in the seats where no one was sitting.

On the other hand, in order to overcome this situation, we are strengthening our efforts to attract customers.

In order to make it more enjoyable for visitors, from this month, we increased the number of elephants feeding from 1 to 25 pairs and tigers from 30 to 15 pairs to increase the opportunities to interact with animals.

Due to the relaxation of mask wearing as a measure against the new corona and the good line of days with five consecutive holidays in the second half, this facility expects 5,20 visitors during the period, more than 11% more than the same time last year.

Yo Shiraishi, a spokesperson for Tobu Zoological Park, says, "At the very least, we have no choice but to adjust the room temperature of the air conditioner at the employees' offices, and now that we have a new vehicle, we want to provide something that people can enjoy even more."