Tokyo (Reuters) – The Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday that Japan’s government is thinking about bringing back a national travel discount campaign as soon as the end of this month. This would help the tourism industry recover from the COVID-19 slump.
The business daily said, without citing sources, that bringing back the “Go to Travel” campaign would probably be one of the main ways to get people to buy more. As coronavirus infections get better, Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists again on July 10.
The Nikkei said that the government would decide on the campaign soon, but it didn’t say when.
Outside of business hours, it was hard to get a quick response from the Japan Tourism Agency.
The campaign started in July 2020, just as COVID was getting stronger. It helped pay for half of each traveler’s costs, up to 20,000 yen ($150) a night.
The programme helped boost tourism, but it was put on hold when the pandemic got worse five months later.
($1 = 130.8600 yen)