Japan will open its borders to tourists from October 11 after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic, hoping that the tourism boom will revive the economy
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the country restored visa-free travel with dozens of countries, lifting some of the world's strictest border controls imposed in connection with COVID-19. Japan also lifted a restriction that allowed no more than 50,000 people to enter the country and eliminated the requirement for tourists to travel in tourist groups, Kyodo news agency reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expects tourism to help revive the economy. But the tourism boom may also have a downside: A shortage of hospitality workers will follow, tourists may remain fearful of a continuing pandemic, and economists predict that tourists will be gradual.
Kishida said last week that the government intends to raise 5 trillion yen ($34.5 billion) in annual tourism spending. Quite an ambitious goal for a sector that faded during the pandemic.
Foreign tourist spending will reach just 2.1 trillion yen by 2023 and will not exceed pre-COVID-19 levels until 2025, economist Takahide Kiuchi wrote in a report by the Nomura Research Institute.
Just over half a million people visited Japan in 2022, up from a record 31.8 million in 2019.