Japan will not pay half of your travel expenses, says Japan Tourism Agency

Social media sites almost exploded when reports claiming that Japan will pay 50% of the travel expenses of tourists to stimulate tourism in the country. However, the Japan Tourism Agency has clarified the rumours on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the travel industry and many countries are at the initial stages of reigniting the money-making machine for the past few years.

In a series of tweets, the Japan Tourism Agency has explained that the proposed tourism program is still under consideration and would only cover “a portion of domestic travel expenses.”

the Go to Travel Campaign under consideration by the Japanese government is to stimulate domestic travel demand within Japan after the Covid-19 pandemic and only cover a portion of domestic travel expenses.（２／２）

— 観光庁（Japan Tourism Agency） (@Kanko_Jpn) May 27, 2020

The Go To Travel Campaign aims to stimulate domestic travel demand within the nation after the viral pandemic. The new campaign has not yet determined the portion of the travel costs.

According to the document released by the economy ministry, the proposed plan could see travel vouchers doled out for up to a maximum of JPY 20,000 (USD 185) per person, per stay.

Hiroshi Tabata, head of Japan Tourism Agency, is looking to enact the campaign in July at the earliest. Japan has lifted the state of emergency on the whole nation on Monday and Tokyo is aiming to initiate phase two of its reopening.

Many countries are expected to focus on domestic tourism as borders remain closed. Japan experienced the lowest tourist arrival since 1964, which is expected as Japan imposed a travel entry ban to 111 countries.