Hotel in Atami Illegally Receives 3.9 Million Yen Subsidy - At the Time of Announcement of National Travel Support Fraud?
On July 5, 2024, Shizuoka Prefecture announced that Esperanza Resort Atami was involved in fraudulent billing and countermeasures during the nationwide travel support "Shizuoka Genki Travel". The nationwide travel support was implemented by the Japan Tourism Agency and prefectural governments from October 2022 ~ September 2024 to support tourism businesses during the Corona disaster.
Esperanza Resort Atami is an accommodation facility operated by Eishin Resort & Dining Co., Ltd. (Itabashi 2-chome, Tokyo). In January 2023, it was discovered that the same person was staying in multiple rooms on the same day. In a subsequent investigation, it was revealed that even though there was no record of accommodation, the local coupon price of 3,937,000 yen was obtained.
In response to the allegations of fraud, Esperanza Resort Atami claimed to have a record of accommodation, but according to newly requested materials from Shizuoka Prefecture, about 96% of the 13,273 applications were found to be incomplete. The prefectural government decided not to pay the approximately 75 million yen that had been applied for by the facility as of March 2024, and requested a refund of the paid regional coupon price, but it has not been refunded. The Shizuoka Prefecture Tourism Policy Division said, "It is difficult to contact the other party and I do not feel sincere, and we are considering submitting a damage report to the police as necessary in the future."
On July 5, TV Shizuoka said that when it accessed the official website of Esperanza Resort, it was displayed as "The service has been terminated on June 30, 2024." Reported However, the site itself cannot be confirmed at the moment. When I asked the Atami City Tourism Association about the facility, they said, "I don't know much about it because I am not a member of the Tourism Association and the Hotel Ryokan Cooperative." The editorial department called the facility on the 8th, but it was not connected, but Rakuten Travel, JTB Rurubu, and Yahoo! Travel are accepting accommodation reservations.
4 patterns of fraudulent receipt of nationwide travel support
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the discovery of fraud in national travel support is considered as follows. The first is when it is discovered between the municipality and the accommodation facility, as in Shizuoka Prefecture, the second is when it is discovered in the report of the travel support office commissioned by the municipality, the third is when it is discovered in the report submitted by the local government to the Japan Tourism Agency, and the fourth is when fraud is found in another subsidy project and is discovered when the travel support business is inspected.
Based on these findings, when asked whether the irregularities revealed in the inspection at the end of fiscal 2023 will be made public, he replied, "I can't say for sure, but I think that is the time when it will be made."
GoTo Travel fraud is announced about 9 months after the end of the fiscal year
In addition, in December 2021, it was announced that the "GoTo Travel Business" implemented in FY2020 fraudulently received approximately 700 million yen by the travel giant HIS Group. Announcements tend to be made when there is a dispute between the Japan Tourism Agency, local governments, and the business operator after the fraud is discovered, or when the fraudulent amount is high.
