Japan will permit small group limited package tours, including Singapore visitors, as a step to full reopening

Japan said on Tuesday (May 17) that it would begin leading “test tourism” as limited package tours in May as an approach to gathering data preceding a full reopening of the country to the country to tourism.

Although tourism was a significant pillar of Japan’s economy, tourists have not been allowed to enter since it adopted strict border controls in 2020 toward the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

Regulations have been loosened somewhat to permit students and some business travelers to enter. In any case, individual tourists stay banished notwithstanding calls from industry leaders expecting to restart tourism to take advantage of the yen, which has fallen to 20-year lows.

The Tourism Agency said on Tuesday that it would begin permitting small group tours to enter later this month as “test cases” to acquire data for a more extensive resumption of tourism at an unspecified future date.

Tourists who have been triple-vaccinated and come from the United States, Australia, Thailand, and Singapore will be permitted to partake in the tours, which will be completely planned related to travel agencies and accompanied at all times by tour conductors, it included a statement.

“This venture will allow us to verify compliance and emergency responses for infection prevention and formulate guidelines for travel agencies and accommodation operators to keep in mind,” it said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this month during a speech in London that he would align Japan’s border controls in line with other wealthy democracies in June, yet no further details have been given, including when the country will completely open its borders to tourists again.

In 2019, Japan hosted 31.9 million foreign visitors, who spent 4.81 trillion yen.