Japan is expected to welcome foreign visitors in small groups from the end of May, before fully reopening from the beginning of June. Accordingly, the head of the Government said that it will further relax disease control measures so that by June, tourists can enter smoothly like other G7 countries.
Japan aims to attract visitors from the summer by easing disease prevention measures. Photo: Wanderlust Chloe
However, Mr. Kishida has not yet given specific information on entry requirements for international visitors. And the "smooth entry like other G7 countries" is also unclear, as the countries in the above group are still applying different rules. The US, Canada, Germany require guests to be fully vaccinated, while Italy, France, and the UK do not.
In another press conference on the same day, Mr. Kishida said that these changes and easing will be implemented in phases. The government will wait two more weeks to observe and monitor the effects after the Golden Week holiday (April 29 to May 5), then make a final decision. Maybe Japan will welcome small groups of guests from the end of May, then officially open.
For months now, as Asian countries have opened up one by one, the Japanese tourism industry has been urging the government to allow more international visitors. Before the epidemic, tourism was one of the industries that brought great profits to the economy. In 2019, tourism contributed $359 billion to Japan's GDP, making it the world's third-largest tourism market after the US and China.
According to Forbes, in general, Asian countries reopened to international tourism much later than the rest of the world. The reopening has only really accelerated in recent months, when many countries in the region simultaneously opened their doors to welcome guests with simple entry procedures similar to before the epidemic.
