If you are hosting a camping experience, you have to comply with the Hotel Business Law (旅館業法, Ryokan Gyou Hou) and the Travel Agency Act (旅行業法, Ryokou Gyou Hou). Please refer to those regulations when creating a listing and planning/hosting a camping event.
Definition of Hotel Business
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The hotel business is defined as "the business of lodging people for fees," and "lodging" is defined as "the use of facilities with bedding." The hotel business is to "lodge people," therefore, letting people use certain spaces as places of living, such as an apartment or a room for rent, is considered a room rental or house rental business and is not considered a hotel business.
- The Hotel Business Law does not apply to those who do not collect lodging charges.
- The lodging charge includes any fee that is regarded as a fee for the use of bedding and rooms, regardless of the name of the fee. For example, day use, bedding rental, bedding cleaning, utilities, and room cleaning fees, are also considered lodging fees.
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In addition, if a training venue with a lodging facility (e.g. セミナーハウス, Seminar House) charges a training fee, the training fee is presumed to include lodging unless it is clear that the training fee does not include lodging, for example, the training fees are the same for all participants including those who do not stay overnight at the facility. Compensations for services that are not necessarily associated with lodging, such as meals, use of a television or a word processing device, etc. are not considered lodging expenses.
Source: The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare website
Definition of Travel Business
- Receiving fees for functioning as an intermediary between the traveler and the transportation and/or lodging service providers in order to plan a travel service that consists of multiple services and to arrange individual services so that the traveler can receive "transportation and/or lodging services".
Definition of "Transportation or Accommodation Services"
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The term "transportation or lodging services" refers to services provided by a transportation service provider or a lodging service provider as a business, and "lodging services" refers to services that fall under the category of "hotel business" under the Hotel Business Law.
Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan Tourism Agency website
Requirements for Listing and Hosting a Camping Experience
In order to list or host a camping experience, all of the following conditions must be met:
- Guests must bring their own tents and sleeping bags
- The host must not collect lodging fees from guests
- Do not use facilities regulated by the Hotel Business Law (*)
- The host must have the authority to rent out the location for camping (**)
*The host can't hold an experience that involves overnight use of facilities that require a hotel business license (e.g., lodges, cottages, glamping sites, and other lodging facilities; private houses, learning centers with lodging facilities, etc.).
**The host can hold an experience if guests set up their own tents and stay overnight at a site with no lodging facility (e.g., a general campground; a vacant lot or a yard owned by the host, etc.). The host has to acquire a permit if the camping site is not owned by the host (e.g., land that is leased to someone else other than the host, land not owned by the host, national parks, etc.).
Related Articles:
- "For Hosts: Legal Prohibitions"
- "For Hosts: Aini's Guideline"