Right amid the summer season of travel, Japan aims to reopen to foreign tourists in June. Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida made the announcement yesterday while in London.
“We are planning to ease the controls further so that by June, it will be possible to enter the country just as easily as other G7 states,” said Kishida.
Prime Minister Promises To Open Borders By June!
That precisely remains unclear as entry regulations aren’t identical in all G7 nations. The European side does not require tourists to show proof of vaccination, while the US, Germany, and Canada strictly require full vaccinations before entering the country.
The general trend is that Asian destinations have been less open to international travel than the rest of the world. In recent months, however, Asian destinations such as India, South Korea, the Philippines, and Malaysia are allowing fully vaccinated foreigners.
Now Kishida believes it’s time to allow Japan to join in and hopes that the growth of tourism will boost the weakening Japanese currency.
Kishida has credited Japan’s strict entry rules for aiding Japan in fighting the disease more effectively than other countries. Ever since the start of the pandemic in January, a little less than 30,000 people have died due to the virus in Japan, according to From Our World in Data and JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data.
According to the prime minister, Japan will lower the restrictions step by step and not all at once. The Japanese government is expected to wait two weeks to assess the effects on this year’s Golden Week holidays before making the final choice, reports Nikkei. According to The Japan Times, Japan might reopen for small tour groups before opening open to tourists worldwide.
Pack Your Bags And Get Ready To Fly To Japan!
Since this year, the tourism industry in Japan has been pushing the government to let in more foreign tourists. In the years before the outbreak, tourism was a massive success, as the number of foreign visitors grew fivefold.
In 2019, travel and tourism’s contribution to Japan’s GDP was 390.9 billion US dollars. But, because of strict border security measures, foreign tourists dropped from 32 million in 2019, to only 250,000 in 2021.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently has Japan in a Level 3 travel health warning meaning that the country is at a “high” possibility of contracting Covid-19 spreading. It is worth noting that there is a Level 3 warning for the United States, and 111 other nations worldwide.
To travel to countries with a level of 3, CDC suggests that travelers be “up to current” with the Covid-19 vaccine, fully vaccinated, or the time of travel. According to CDC, three out of four (74.7 percent) Americans age 12 and over have full vaccinations. However, less than half of Americans eligible to receive a booster shot have had one.
Source: Forbes
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