Japan is about to welcome back foreign travelers, but domestic tourism remains its priority

International travelers are expected to return to Japan this week after more than two years of closed border policies.

Foreign tourists will be able to enter Japan on June 10.

The president of the Japan Association of Travel Agents said that the government still wants to boost domestic tourism.

Domestic tourism contributed more to Japan's gross domestic product than foreign tourism before the Pandemic.

According to a report by the Japan Tourism Agency, overall tourism contributed over twenty billion dollars to Japan's economy.

Despite a rise in Covid cases in 2021, tourism spending from those living in Japan still brought in 9.2 trillion dollars.

Promoting international arrivals to Japan is important for the heavily hit travel, transportation, and hotel sectors.

Ejaz Ahmad, a research analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said during a webinars on June 1 that Japan was on track to get 40 million foreign visitors by the year 2022.

The number of foreign visitors plummeted after the Pandemic, with only 250,000 visitors in 2021.

Spending from international students and long-term foreign residents brought in an average of 4.3 million yen per person per year, according to a report.

Travel agencies in Japan are getting ready for the return of tourists with packaged tours.

The Golden Route Japan Tour is one of the tour packages that All Japan Tours has.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the daily cap on visitor arrivals increased from 10,000 to 20,000 on June 1st.

The limit may be increased to 30,000 in July.

The country used to welcome over one hundred thousand visitors per day.

Travelers may be subject to additional restrictions depending on where they are coming from if they are classified as a blue, red and yellow country.

Travelers from 98 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and China, are not required to check in or be vaccine free.

Travelers from any of the 99 countries in the yellow category are exempt from testing if they have had three Covid-19 vaccinations. The category includes countries like India.

For a period of three to seven days, those from "red" countries, such as Pakistan, must be tested on arrival.