Japan, which had been firmly locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recently decided to receive group travelers again, but the atmosphere at the Japanese airport is quiet, according to reports.
Bloomberg of the U.S. posted an article titled “Japan, which has been a week since the resumption of the border, but has few visitors.” on the 16th (local time).
“Japan has been one of the most popular destinations in the world, but few tourists are coming to Tokyo on the 10th,” Bloomberg saidAt the international airport, neither a guide with a flag nor a passionate traveler could be seen.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan set a record for the best overseas visitors, making it one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. However, during the COVID-19 period, local airlines, hotel industries, and restaurants in Japan suffered greatly as borders were strictly controlled.
Foreigners who entered Japan last year spent 120 billion yen (about 1.1523 trillion won) locally, more than 40 times different from 4.8 trillion yen (about 46.906 trillion won) in 2019.
Despite this situation, Bloomberg analyzed that the Japanese government, ahead of the upper house election on the 10th of next month, is still taking a cautious stance on opening the border. This is because border controls are still popular with Japanese people.
Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito said at a press conference, “It is important to get people’s understanding and feel safe for the resumption of Japanese tourism,” adding, “The priority will be to balance infection measures and economic activities while trying to recover tourism demand.”
Bloomberg pointed out that the Japanese government released related guidelines three days before the border was lifted, giving travel companies little time to plan related promotions.
Andy Eastham, a spokesman for Wendy’s Tour, which plans trips to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in the U.S., said, “We and other travel agencies did not have much time to prepare marketing campaigns for travel to Japan.”
Japan officially resumed its border on the 10th and operates the number of arrivals per day at 20,000.