Visitors to the western Japan island of Miyajima, home to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Itsukushima Shrine, must pay a tax to the city of Hatsukaichi, starting Sunday.

A ferry ticket to the island in Hiroshima Prefecture now includes a tax of 100 yen or about 67 cents.

Miyajima residents and people who work or study there are not charged the tax.

City officials say the new fee will help them keep Miyajima a sustainable tourist destination.

They expect the fee to generate 104 million yen or about 700,000 dollars in tax revenues by the end of the current fiscal year next March.

The officials say the money will be spent on maintaining toilets and ferry terminals as well as moving power cables underground.

They say about 2.93 million people visited Miyajima from January through August this year. The figure is about 90 percent of the level before the coronavirus pandemic.

An official says the city recognizes the significance of collecting the tax from visitors and will utilize the revenue to protect Miyajima together with them.