Caramba, failed again. Last Wednesday, “hospitality” (travel, hotel, restaurant) professionals who “sell the destination of Japan” were once again on the lips of Fumio Kishida. The Prime Minister of Japan was supposed to announce the acceleration of the reopening of the borders at the press conference. Again a wet firecracker. he only announced the completion of the PCR test in the country of departure. All other restrictions on the arrival of foreign visitors remain in effect.
Fumio Kishida mentioned the upcoming increase in the arrivals ceiling, which is set at 20,000 entries today, but without specifying a date or its size. “It’s exhausting. Not only does the opening come from behind the scoop, but there is also the rumor of clothes to consider.laments Thierry Meincent, president of Japan Experience, a stay specialist in the Land of the Rising Sun.
If the family wants to spend the night in a hotel, they must provide a room for the guide. That doubles all accommodation costs. And who wants to travel like that today?
European tour operator specializing in Japan
Japan closed its borders in 2020 to contain the Covid-19 epidemic. Their reopening is off to a good start, but not so measured and so ambiguous, even misleading, that it is as irritating as it is hopeful. In early May, Fumio Kishida announced the reopening for international tourists, promising an entry regime from June. “Similar to other G7 countries”. A month later, the first disappointment. only groups of tourists traveling by an accredited agency with a properly vetted tour guide were authorized.
“It means that if a family wants to spend the night in a hotel, they have to provide a room for a guide. That doubles all accommodation costs. And who wants to travel like that today?,- wonders one of the European tour operators who wished to remain anonymous. Answer: Hardly anyone. In 2019, 2.3 million tourists entered Japan each month, according to data from the JNTO regulatory agency. In June 2022, they were 252, and in July – 7900.
Why such ostracism? The domestic economy is generally less affected by the lack of foreign tourists. “There are very few places in Japan that depend on them to live. Metropolises live without them. Beach resorts too. Ski areas, on the other hand, are a truly Japanese specialty Asiasuffer a lot” says Christian Mancini of real estate investment trust Savills, who wrote a note on Japan’s hospitality sector. Better. Japan’s shutdown is no doubt contributing in part to the way domestic tourism is shaped. Burnt out at the thought of having to go through the difficult procedure of entering their country, the Japanese are traveling across their borders. Currently, the number of hotel nights is 65-85% of what it was in 2019, according to Savills.
The end of visa cancellation?
Tour operators responsible for the destination of Japan have a new concern. what will be the conditions for the inevitable “reopening” of the borders? Will post-covid Japan be as hospitable as before the epidemic? The head of the airline confides, for example, that he fears that Japan will end the visa exemption for foreign tourists. Until the advent of Covid-19, the archipelago has historically been very hospitable to them. To attract them, as early as 1951, in its founding “immigration statute,” it planned to grant short-stay visa exemptions to citizens of a growing number of nations.
Before the epidemic, Japan thus exempted 68 countries (including France) from tourist visas. However, it has just started introducing a short-stay “e-visa” that costs about ¥3,000. Progress? Half: If the visa is “digital”, its application fees must be paid… In person, at the Japanese consulate, and in cash. Above all, this “progress” will eventually turn into a setback if the paid “e-Visa” is retained after the reopening of the borders, as it will replace the traditional visa waiver, which is actually free and immediate. “At the moment there is no indication that they have made such a decision.”, postpones an expert from JNTO, the Japan Tourist Office. A case to follow.
Source: Le Figaro
