On August 3, two foreigners disappeared from a ryokan in Nagano Prefecture without paying approximately 57,000 yen in accommodation fees. While inbound tourism is booming, the inn’s officials say they have realized the difficulty of dealing with foreign tourists.
The president, Sadatomo Wakui said: We had a reservation for two nights, but the next morning they left the key at the front desk and went out. We thought they were coming back, but they didn’t, and when we looked in the guest room, we found it was empty.
The damage amounted to approximately 57,000 for two nights. They had the names and phone numbers of the two people from the booking information, but when they called the two, no answer.
The President called the police, hoping they weren’t involved in an accident.
When the guests checked in, they were asked to register their passports and other documents on their smartphones, but they didn’t follow the procedure.
In response to the damage, the inn hastily changed their check-in system to one where guests are asked to fill in a sheet. In ryokans, fees are usually paid afterwards. While inbound tourism has been strong, such damage has been observed at other inns, too.
