Good News, Japan Will Have Limited Trial Of Opening Tourism For Foreign Tourists At The End Of This Month

Japanese illustration. (Unsplash/Maria Cassagne)

JAKARTA - Good news comes from Japan, when the local authority announced that it plans to try out its tourism activities on a limited basis starting this month, by presenting limited tour packages to 'gather' information, before fully opening tourism activities.

Japan is known to have not allowed tourists to enter the country as part of strict border controls at the start of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, despite tourism being the main pillar of the economy.

Although regulations have been relaxed slightly to allow students and some business travelers to enter. However, individual tourists remain barred despite calls from industry leaders, who hope to restart tourism to take advantage of the yen, which has fallen to 20-year lows.

The Tourism Board said on Tuesday it would begin allowing small group tours in from the end of this month as a pilot, to gain information for a wider resumption of tourism at an undetermined future date.

Tourists who have been vaccinated three times and are from the United States, Australia, Thailand, and Singapore will be allowed to take part in the tour, which will be strictly planned in conjunction with the travel agent, always accompanied by the tour director.

"This effort will allow us to verify compliance and emergency response to infection prevention and formulate guidelines for travel agents and accommodation operators to keep in mind," the agency said, citing Reuters, Tuesday, May 17.

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this month in a speech in London he would bring Japan's border controls in line with other wealthy democracies by June. However, no further details were given, including when the country would fully open its borders to tourists again.

To note, as one of the favorite tourist destinations, Japan was visited by around 31.9 million foreign tourists who spent 4.81 trillion yen in 2019.