Japan reopened to tourists on Tuesday after two-and-a-half years of severe covid-19 restrictions, and officials expect the influx of travelers attracted by the yen’s weakness to boost the economy.
By mid-morning, Israeli, French and British tourists were arriving.
“It’s a very, very long dream come true,” says Adi Bromshtine, 69, a retiree arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from Israel.
“We were making plans before covid-19 and we were waiting and waiting,” he told AFP.
Itay Galili, a 22-year-old student who arrived from Israel, said he had been closely following reports about the reopening of the border.
“As soon as I heard I was going to reopen on the 11th, I started planning. Tickets were expensive. . . But no value (is) too heavy,” he said.
Japan closed its borders at the beginning of the pandemic, including at one point banning the return of foreign nationals, and recently began cautiously reopening.
In June, it began allowing tourists to stop in groups accompanied by guides, a requirement that has been more comfortable to come with self-guided tour packages.
As of Tuesday, visa-free access for travelers from countries and territories resumed.
Japan is removing the limit on arrivals and ending the package travel requirement.
Some regulations are maintained, and tourists are required to provide evidence of vaccination or a negative coronavirus taken 3 days before departure.
Before Covid-19, the Japanese government was on track to achieve a target of 40 million visitors by 2020, the year Tokyo intended to host the Summer Olympics.
Japan gained a record 31. 9 million foreigners in 2019, but that figure dropped to just 250,000 in 2021.
In Japan, tourists will find a country that still adheres to fitness rules that have helped keep the death toll from the pandemic at around 45,500, less than many other evolved economies.
Masks are ubiquitous and while required by law, Parliament is about to pass a law allowing hotels to refuse service to visitors who refuse to wear one or practice other fitness rules.
Masks are worn not only indoors and on public transport, but even outdoors, the government has said they are not necessary outdoors in low-traffic environments.
Hand sanitizers are placed at the front of top companies, while plastic dividers are also used in restaurants.
One of its main updates for tourists will be the weakness of the yen, which hovers around 145 to the dollar, a point seen in two decades.
The government has already had to interfere once with the currency, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida citing the yen’s weakness as something he hoped to attract tourists when pronouncing the reopening.
In fact, there is no shortage of demand, according to agents.
Since the announcement in September of the planned reopening, “we are absolutely drowned, we do not have enough time to process all the applications,” said Antoine Chanthavong of Paris-based firm Destination Japan.
However, at least for now, tickets are not cheap, fuel costs are skyrocketing, and airlines are forced to take circuitous routes into Russian airspace.
And despite all the uptick in demand, the number of tourists is not expected to reach 2019 levels anytime soon.
Before the pandemic, travelers from Hong Kong and China accounted for 37% of all foreigners in Japan and 44% of tourism revenue.
But China’s strict covid-19 restrictions mean visitors from there are returning to Japan soon.