Destinations known | Japan wants tourists to return so much it’s offering to pay for half of their travel expenses, perhaps
- With the state of emergency now lifted, the nation looks ahead to life after the coronavirus with a novel campaign to attract visitors
- For a country that is notoriously costly to see, the prospect of half-price holidays is undeniably appealing
In April, foreign visitor numbers to Japan fell by 99.9 per cent from the same month last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation. Were this any other time, that statistic would be shocking, but in our coronavirus-ravaged world it barely warrants a mention. Borders are closed around the globe and although Japan hasn’t implemented a blanket ban on arrivals, its list of destinations from which people are not permitted to enter is all but exhaustive.
On May 25, the state of emergency enforced to limit the spread of Covid-19 was lifted in the few prefectures in which it was still in place, including Tokyo, “ending seven weeks of economic restrictions and ushering in an uncertain ‘new normal’”, according to financial newspaper Nikkei Asian Review. That new normal will involve the revival of the tourism industry, which accounted for 7.4 per cent of Japan’s gross domestic product in 2018, and the nation could be taking a novel approach to attracting excursionists back to its islands.
“The government is planning to lure back foreign visitors by covering half of their travel expenses,” reported The Mainichi newspaper, on May 20. Speaking at a press conference, Hiroshi Tabata, commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency, said that the 1.35 trillion yen (HK$97.2 billion) programme could begin as early as July “if novel coronavirus infections subside soon”, which appears to be the case.
Exactly how half of travellers’ expenses might be taken care of is unclear, but for a country that is notoriously costly to see, the prospect is likely to be appealing in these economically unsettled times. According to the website Budget Your Trip, which ranks destinations “based on the travel budgets of real travellers”, Japan is the third most expensive place in Asia to visit, requiring an average daily allowance of US$120.80, behind Hong Kong (US$139.97) and South Korea (US$121.90). If those outgoings were halved, Japan would be in the company of more budget-friendly destinations such as Pakistan, China and Myanmar.