Japan’s government has plans to raise the maximum number of foreign visitors, bringing in the equivalent of 20,000 per day in June, sources from the government said on Wednesday.
The relaxation will follow an analysis of the airport quarantine facilities and the domestic infection status following Japan’s Golden Week holidays that ended on Sunday.
In addition, the government is contemplating accepting tourists on small-scale tours beginning this month to achieve a greater acceptance of tourists from other countries in phases. Japan has implemented the most stringent pandemic border controls among the Group of Seven nations and has been under pressure to open.
In the last week of April, private sector members of a panel for economic and fiscal policy suggested easing the daily cap on foreign arrivals and easing further immigration requirements.
Great News For Tourists!
Last week, during a London visit, Premier Secretary Fumio Kishida said that Japan would revise its COVID-19 policies “in phases” after consultation with public health experts and bring them the same way as other G7 nations.
The government closed Japan for all non-resident foreign visitors on November 30, 2021, due to the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant. From March 1, the international students, businessmen, trainees in technical internships, and others visiting for other reasons than tourism had to face fewer restrictions.
The limit on foreign visitors per day was 3,500 in November, and 5,000 by March 1, then 7,000 on March 14, and then to the current 10,000 by April 10.
In 2021, only 245,900 foreign tourists visited Japan -the lowest number since comparable data was made available in 1964.
Source: JapanToday
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