Individual tourists booked on express tours are still prohibited
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Japan has maintained strict border regulations since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic
Japan has announced that it will remove its pre-travel Covid requirement for most travelers starting in early September.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida showed on Wednesday that foreigners arriving fully vaccinated will no longer want to provide a negative PCR check before arrival from September 7.
Japan’s tourism workplace said that in order to be “fully vaccinated,” travelers will want to have won 3 doses of the vaccine.
Those who only have two doses of the vaccine will still want to pass a PCR check within 72 hours before their flight. All travelers will still need to sign a written commitment to comply with Japan’s isolation and Covid rules, and for the entire country online. Aptitude questionnaire before arrival.
The Japanese government has not specified when it will remove the rule that tourists can only take approved guided tours, in addition to prohibiting individual tourists from leaving the country.
The village island country also has a limit of 20,000 foreign arrivals, which doubled from 10,000 in June.
A spokesperson for Japan’s National Tourism Organization said: “The removal of this requirement for fully vaccinated travellers is a step towards further relaxation of restrictions for independent travel. “
Before the pandemic, Japan received around 32 million visitors a year; in 2021, 246,000 foreign tourists arrived on its shores.
James Mundy, from excursion operator Inside Japan, said: “As Japan’s largest independent specialist, InsideJapan welcomes the removal of all barriers to Japan and, for many, this is another big factor that has disappeared. “
He added that there may be hope for further relaxation of Covid regulations for Japan next week and said, “We expect more main points and clarifications in the coming days. “
Simon Calder, correspondent for The Independent, said: “Before the coronavirus pandemic, inbound tourism was an increasingly vital component of the Japanese economy.
“The annual conference of Abta, the association, was held in Tokyo in 2019, which represents a large investment in the government’s tourism component and allegedly announced an increase in the number of British visitors to Japan.
“I was hoping to make a stopover in 2020 and come back last year, but possibly I wouldn’t pay more to sign up for a tour organization in a country that is so suitable for independent travel.
“Now it turns out that the spring of 2023 is the first realistic date for an individual visit. But as the months go by, Japan loses to other destinations.
Japan has maintained strict border regulations since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic
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