Japan's travel industry aims post-COVID

With the world being in a state of limbo for the past two years or so, travel industries across the globe were crushed. But as time went on and countries started to slowly ease back into reviving their tourism sectors, Japan remained a guarded fortress. By the beginning of 2022, most nations were allowing tourists to come visit with a few conditions in some places, but essentially travel had become possible. It was only by June of 2022 that Japan began permitting international tourists to enter, but the catch was that it had to be a part of a group on a guided package tour. Now, back to the present, Japan has officially opened as of October 11th to individual international tourists. This has been a long time coming, and only the beginning of bringing Japanese tourism back to the heights it was before the pandemic. To help ensure that there is a healthy continued growth, there are a few factors in place that will hopefully help Japan flourish again.

As Japan’s borders closed and there was a sharp drop of inbound tourists, it left an open abyss for all the people that were yearning for a trip soon. The Olympics was meant to be the perfect opportunity for people across the globe to witness the glamour all for themselves. But as the historic event was moved back and continued behind mostly closed doors, it exposed Japan to a greater audience for millions around the world to watch from their TVs or online. This was the initial stage of planting seeds of wonder inside people’s minds, where gradually their curiosity in Japan will grow. With the landscapes and culture of the nation displayed at the Olympics through events like Sumo and Karate, the interest starts to sprout. Social media is a powerful tool in today’s society, and once people start to share videos and past experiences of their travels in Japan, it spreads like wildfire. The culmination of all of these things paired with the travel restrictions has made the idea of visiting Japan more appealing than ever.

It was only a matter of time before Japan would allow individual international tourists to arrive again, but the dates of when it opened is the key. The autumn period here is arguably the most beautiful and popular time to stay along with spring, due to its stunning foliage of fiery colours and cool temperatures. It begins from around mid-November to early December depending on where in the country it is. Therefore, by opening the country back up in the beginning of October, it allows for a reasonable amount of time for people to search online and book some tickets. Being able to see stunning backgrounds of the canopies ablaze in places like Arashiyama, or it acting as an accent to nature and wildlife in spots like Nara is honestly a paradise on Earth. The magnificence captures the hearts of everyone and it is unsurprising that people still choose to visit in autumn, despite the huge crowds and expensive ticket prices.

We are in a significant point of time at the moment where due to numerous factors such as inflation, the Japanese yen has fallen to a rate that has not been seen in decades. While this is terrible for Japanese people that uses the yen, this is a terrific news for countries that currently hold a strong currency such as the US and the UK. The weakened yen means that their money will now go a lot further, encouraging people more to come and spend right now. Who knows when the yen will go back up again and whether that will be sometime soon or a lot later on, but one things for sure is that spending it now is a great option.

When the prospect of hosting the Olympics was bestowed to the nation years ago, renovations to aging and damaged attractions, as well as the constructions of new ones began in order to prepare for the inevitable surge of tourists during the event. Significant renovations include Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto and Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, the latter of which is expected to finish by the end of 2022. Some new attractions that were built is the Shibuya Sky viewing platform in Tokyo, Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, and the Ghibli Park that is expected to open in November of 2022. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan, but with most of these preparations already in place, the country will be ready to welcome all the new guests with open arms.