‘So happy’: Japan tourism sector cheers looming changes to Covid-19 testing, daily visitor cap
- Officials will reportedly drop a rule requiring visitors to show proof of a negative PCR test result 72 hours before departure for Japan
- Tourism players welcome reports of changes, saying the loss of foreign visitors in the last two years has made things ‘much more difficult’
According to the Nikkei business daily, officials will drop a rule requiring visitors to show proof of a negative PCR test result 72 hours before departure for Japan. The requirement would be eliminated “within a few weeks”, the newspaper said.
That has made it even more difficult and expensive for people to travel to the country, including Japanese nationals returning from a holiday overseas or travelling on business.
Travel associations and Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, have for months been calling for restrictions to be relaxed, pointing out that prolonging the regulations would hurt the economy and the nation’s reputation as an open and welcoming destination.
The government is giving way on another demand, for the maximum number of daily arrivals to be raised from 20,000 at present, according to the Nikkei. The new daily limit is expected to change at the same time as travel tests are eased, with a figure of 50,000 daily arrivals widely expected to be adopted.
“This is just wonderful news – I’m so happy that this is finally happening,” said Tatsu Shiraishi, founder of tour company M&Co, based in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan.
“We set the company up in 2020 and we have just about been able to get by, but not being able to welcome foreign visitors has made things much more difficult. We have basically been forced to rely on domestic travellers for our guided tours … but with the rules being relaxed, I am hopeful more people will want to come to Japan.”