Japan Finally Removes All Travel Curbs, Hopes For A Tourism Boom

It has been a long, hard, more than two years of the pandemic for Japan with its tough travel regulations. However, after gradually easing the restrictions, the country has finally dropped the last of its rules, hoping to attract travelers.

Japan drops COVID-19 travel rules

More than two years ago, Japan firmly closed its borders to international travelers during the pandemic. In fact, the country had among the toughest border controls in the world. Recently, Japan partially reopened, with visitors able to visit as part of tour groups. Due to this, it wasn’t easy to recover any of the tourist money lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, according to the Kyodo news agency, today Japan has reinstated visa-free travel from dozens of countries and has dropped the 50,000-person entry cap. The country also dropped the requirement for tourists to travel as part of a tour group.

Reportedly, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on tourism to aid the economy, while reaping some benefits from the Yen’s slide to a 24-year low. However, even with the dropping of strict regulations, hopes for a tourism boom are facing a tough time. For one thing, there is now a shortage of hospitality workers, as well as some lingering pandemic concerns. In fact, according to economists, gaining returns from tourism will be gradual.

Gradual reopening

In June this year, Japan started allowing travelers to visit in groups, accompanied by tour guides. However, this measure was later relaxed to include self-guided package tours. However, a little over 500K travelers have visited the country so far this year, compared with the record 31.8 million who visited in 2019.

The Guardian quotes Arata Sawa as being among those eager for the return of international travelers, who previously made up to 90 percent of the guests at his traditional Japanese inn in Tokyo. Sawa said he is “hoping and anticipating” that a lot of foreigners will come to Japan, just like they did before COVID.

Meanwhile, Japan Airlines Co. has seen inbound bookings triple since rules at the borders eased. However, president Yuji Akasaka said international travel demand won’t fully recover until 2025.

Shortage of hospitality workers and other concerns

With such strict border controls, many people were forced to look for work elsewhere during the pandemic. This has led to a shortage of workers in the hospitality industry. In fact, around 73 percent of hotels across the country were short of regular workers in August.

Another concern is whether international travelers will be happy to wear face masks and abide by other infection controls in Japan. Fears still remain that new variants of the virus could be brought into Japan. On Friday last week, the government approved amending hotel regulations to allow operators to refuse guests who won’t follow preventative measures.

Innkeeper Sawa said, “From the start of the pandemic until now, we’ve had just a few foreign guests.” He added, “Pretty much all of them wore masks, but I’m really not sure whether the people who visit from here on will do the same.”

Japan could reap the benefits from weakened yen

Meanwhile, one aspect of the drop of the yen against the US Dollar could lure visitors. This could give international travelers much better-buying power and make the country attractive to bargain hunters. Moreover, this is especially when it comes to Japan’s luxury goods, electronics and retail districts.

While it might still take time for Japan to return to its normal tourism strength, many travelers can benefit from the weakened yen, when spending US dollars. Anyone with a yen for traveling (pun intended) couldn’t pick a better time.