Japan seeing few visitors one week after cautious border reopening

TOKYO • After more than two years, one of the world's most popular travel destinations reopened for tourists.

Yet few, if any, came.

There were no exhausted-yet-exuberant tourists following a flag-carrying guide at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport on June 10, when Japan officially reopened its borders and doubled the daily entry limit to 20,000 visitors.

The Japanese National Tourism Organisation said it does not have any data on tour groups in the week since, and some package holiday operators have yet to begin their tours.

Last month, Japan's government unveiled, with limited fanfare, an initiative to start letting in visitors and their spending money.

But the associated curbs - including mandatory mask-wearing, temperature checks and limited free movement - and relatively short notice, appear to be making it difficult to plan for and attract visitors.

"Even right through June 10, we weren't sure if there would be a last-minute change," said Mr Andy Eastham, a spokesman at Wendy Wu Tours, which says it is the largest operator for tourists from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to Japan. "We couldn't do anything until we knew for sure that Japan was open again," he said.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Japan was at the peak of a tourism boom, with inbound visitors reaching a record in 2019.

Now, Japan is one of the last remaining rich economies with strict border controls, while airlines, hotels and retailers are all eager to regain the business they lost.

The small trickle of foreigners allowed into Japan last year spent 120 billion yen (S$1.2 billion). In 2019, they spent 4.8 trillion yen, or 40 times more, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

Even so, the government is cautious ahead of the Upper House elections on July 10, with Covid-19 border controls still popular with voters. The island nation released its reopening guidelines on June 7, just three days before the announced reopening date.

That did not give Wendy Wu Tours and other travel agencies much time to prepare marketing campaigns to draw visitors.

Japan soft-launched its reopening on May 24, when it invited tour operators and officials from abroad to participate in trial trips around the country.

Visitors were ushered by Japanese tour staff from one location to the next, with the local guides monitoring their movements and often reminding them to wear masks. It was also not clear how those who flaunt the rules or test positive for Covid-19 will be treated.

"When it comes to restarting tourism, it is imperative that we gain the understanding from people of the host areas and that they feel safe," Mr Tetsuo Saito, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said at a news conference yesterday.

"It will be vital to balance infection countermeasures with economic activity as we work to recover tourism demand," he added.

With the polls looming, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appears to be wary about opening the floodgates for inbound tourists too fast, too soon. The Cabinet's approval rating rose to 59 per cent from 55 per cent last month, according to a poll by broadcaster NHK conducted from June 10 to 12.

When asked about the government's moves to double the daily limit for inbound tourists, 47 per cent of respondents said the measures were appropriate, 23 per cent said it should further ease restrictions and 20 per cent answered the restrictions should not have been eased.

BLOOMBERG