Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that Japan will allow non-escorted visitors on package tours and raise the daily arrival cap to 50,000 starting Sept. 7 — a significant step toward putting the country’s border restrictions on par with other major economies.
Japan has been allowing foreign tourists into the country since June, but only on guided tours. The new rules mean that tourists on nonguided package tours can visit the country. It was not immediately clear what criteria will be used to determine what constitutes a package tour.
The latest announcement will be welcome news for the country’s battered tourism industry, as the stricter, guided tours have proven to be unpopular with foreign tourists.
Last week, Kishida said Japan will drop pre-arrival PCR tests from Sept. 7 if passengers have received three shots of an approved vaccine.
Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/08/31/national/tourism-measures-kishida-covid/
