(The original article in Japanese was posted on March 3, 2023)

 

On March 1, the Japanese government relaxed the restrictions on entry into Japan from China. Although it is still necessary to have a “certificate of negative result of the COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to the departure from the original country/region,” PCR testing, which had been obligatory for all passengers on direct flights from China to Japan, will be changed to sample testing for approximately 20% of passengers. Specifically, the quarantine station designates the flights to be subject to the sample testing, and only passengers on these flights are tested. Passengers on other flights are exempted from the testing. In addition, the restrictions on airports, which limit the airports that can be open to only Narita, Haneda, Chubu, and Kansai Airports, were lifted, and also increase of the number of flights was allowed.

In October 2022, the Japanese government eased the border control measures including the abolishment of the upper limit on the number of people entering the country. According to a survey conducted by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of foreign visitors to Japan in this January was 1,497,300, a recovery to 55.7% of that in the pre-COVID-19 period. The largest number of visitors to Japan came from Korea, with 565,200 people, which is 72.5% of the level before the coronavirus pandemic, followed by Taiwan, with 259,300 visitors, 66.9% of the same period. Visitors from Southeast Asia, especially those from Vietnam and Singapore, also showed a steady recovery, which exceeded the level in the pre-COVID-19 period. Specifically, the former had 51,500 visitors to Japan, an increase of 45.6%, and the latter had 26,700 visitors, up 17.7% compared to the pre-coronavirus period. On the other hand, visitors from China were only 31,200, which was 4.1% of the level in the period before the pandemic. This is why the tourism industry has been highly expecting the policy toward China to be relaxed.

However, simply being obsessed with the “quantity” and accepting more and more foreign visitors will be just exhausting. According to a report published by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in 2019, before the pandemic started, the number of foreign visitors to Japan was 3.8 times larger than that in 2012, the year after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the number of guests staying at accommodations in Japan increased by 40% during the same period. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that monthly cash salaries paid to employees in the “accommodation and food services” sector in 2019 are down 1% from those in 2012. Of course, the main reason may be expansion of non-regular employment, but if such trend repeatedly occurs, it will only accelerate the current situation of “cheap Japan.” What is questioned now is the “quality.” We have to focus on how to raise the values of Japan to the international level including products made or sold in Japan, services provided in Japan, and the nation branding, for foreign tourists.

It was 2018 when the Regional Revitalization and Inbound Tourism Council*, in which YANO has been participating as a board member company, was established, and the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly occurred just when our activities were about to gain momentum. However, thinking differently, we might be able to take it that we were able to develop the solid base of the council because of these three years of the pandemic. We took enough time to work on measures focusing on the post-COVID-19 society, including demonstration experiments of travel concierge services for the wealthy, construction of a model of tourism economic ripple effects at the municipality level, and the concept of “Agri-Smart City” initiative that could encourage the migration of population to rural regions. The council aims to revitalize rural areas through the rediscovery of local resources. Promotion of bidirectional coming and going of people will create a perfect opportunity to bring out the potential of rural regions, and inbound tourism will be the trigger to achieve the council’s aim.

 

*The Regional Revitalization and Inbound Tourism Council

This council aims to encourage the creation of vital communities and development of human resources and interactions of people to contribute to the development of local communities through mutual cooperation and collaboration among companies and organizations who are interested in regional revitalization and inbound tourism business under the comprehensive partnership.

The current members are 112 including 68 general members (private companies, etc.) and 44 special members (local governments, etc.) (as of December 2022).

Official website: http://www.inbound-council.com/

 

This Week’s Focus, March 3

Takashi Mizukoshi, the President