Starting Tuesday, Japan will reinstate visa waiver in dozens of countries, ending some of the world’s strictest border controls to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on tourism to revitalize the economy and capitalize on the yen’s slide to its lowest point in 24 years.
Arata Sawa is among those who need the return of foreign tourists, who in the past accounted for up to 90% of visitors to his classic inn.
“I hope and anticipate that many foreigners will come to Japan, just like before COVID,” Sawa, third-generation owner of Sawanoya Ryokan in Tokyo.
Just over half a million visitors have come to Japan in 2022, up from a record 31. 8 million in 2019. The government had a target of $40 million in 2020 at the same time as the Summer Olympics until both were hit by the coronavirus.
Kishida said last week that the government aims to attract five trillion yen ($34. 5 billion) in annual tourism spending. But that purpose would possibly be too ambitious for a sector that has stunted the pandemic. Hotel employment fell 22% between 2019 and 2021, according to government data.
Foreign guest spending will reach just 2. 1 trillion yen through 2023 and will not exceed pre-COVID grades until 2025, Nomura Research Institute economist Takahide Kiuchi wrote in a report.
National carrier Japan Airlines Co 9201. T has noted that its inbound bookings tripled since the border easing announcement, President Yuji Akasaka said last week, according to the Nikkei newspaper. Still, demand from foreigners may not fully recover until around 2025, he said. additional.
Narita Airport, Japan’s largest foreign airport, about 70 kilometers from Tokyo, remains eerily quiet, with about a portion of its 260 and restaurants closed.
“It’s like a ghost town,” said Maria Satherley, 70, from New Zealand, pointing to the exit of Terminal 1.
Satherley, whose son lives on the northern island of Hokkaido, said she would like to return to her granddaughter this winter, but probably wouldn’t because the girl is too young to be vaccinated, a prerequisite for tourists entering Japan.
“We’re going to wait until next year,” he said.
Amina Collection Co has closed its third souvenir in Narita and will most likely not reopen until next spring, President Sawato Shindo said.
The company reassigned airport staff and materials to other locations in its chain of 120 stores across Japan while refocusing on domestic tourism during the pandemic.
“I don’t think there will be a sudden return to the pre-pandemic situation,” Shindo said. “The restrictions remain tight compared to other countries. “
Japan strongly advises others to wear masks indoors and avoid speaking loudly. On Friday, the Cabinet approved adjustments to hotel regulations so they can turn away visitors who fail to comply with infection controls during an outbreak.
Many service employees have discovered better operating conditions and salaries in other fields in the past two years, so it can be difficult to attract them, said a representative of a tourism company who asked to be identified.
“The hotel industry is very notorious for its low wages, so if the government sees tourism as a key industry, monetary subsidies are probably needed,” he added.
The Japanese government is launching an indoor initiative this month that grants discounts on transportation and accommodation, similar to its Go To Travel crusade in 2020 that was halted following a surge in COVID infections.
Nearly 73 percent of the country’s hotels said they were not normal in August, up from 27 percent a year earlier, according to market research firm Teikoku Databank.
In Kaawaguchiko, a lakeside town at the foot of Mount Fuji, shelters struggled to recruit before the pandemic amid Japan’s tight hard labor market and now expect a similar bottleneck, said a member of an industry organization who asked not to be named.
That sentiment was echoed through Akihisa Inaba, general manager of Yokikan Spa in Shizuoka in central Japan, who said a lack of staff during the summer meant staff had to give up time off.
“Naturally, the shortage of hard work will become more pronounced when entry returns,” Inaba said. “So I’m not sure we can be filled with joy. “
Another fear is whether foreign visitors wear face masks and stick to other infection checks not unusual in Japan. Strict border controls have been very popular for most of the pandemic, and fears persist about the emergence of new viral variants.
“From the beginning of the pandemic until now, we have only had a few foreign guests,” said Sawa, the Tokyo innkeeper. “Almost everyone wore masks, but I don’t know if other people visiting here will do the same. “
“My plan is to ask you to please wear a mask in the building,” he added.
(Reuters)