Schematic diagram Source Reuters, below Tongzhengguan News Comprehensive Reuters, October 10th. After more than two years of quarantine, Japan opened its doors to international tourists this week, but many stores were closed and hotel service staff were short of people. The recov

schematic diagram source Reuters below

Zhengguan News Comprehensive Reuters, October 10 After more than two years of quarantine in the epidemic, Japan opened its doors to international tourists this week, but many stores were closed and hotel service staff were short of people. The recovery of Japan's tourism industry's former prosperity faced severe resistance.

html Starting from October 11, Japan will resume visa-free tourism in dozens of countries and end strict border control measures. Japanese Prime Minister Kishina Fumio hopes to revive the tourism industry and help revitalize the Japanese economy, ending the situation where the yen exchange rate fell to a 24-year low.

This year, the number of tourists traveling to Japan has just exceeded 500,000, while the number of tourists in Japan reached 31.8 million in 2019.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last week that the government's goal is to attract 5 trillion yen (about 244.5 billion yuan) of tourists to consume each year, but this goal is obviously too ambitious.

Japanese overseas tourists spending only about 2.1 trillion yen (about 102.7 billion yuan) until 2023, and it will not exceed pre-epidemic levels until 2025.

According to the " Nikkei Shimbun ", Japanese Airlines President Yuji Akasaka said last week that the number of inbound bookings has tripled since the announcement of the border relaxation policy. "But even so, international tourism demand (Japan) will not be fully restored until around 2025."

, the originally bustling area, is now "empty"

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pic source network

, Japan's Narita Airport is Japan's largest international airport, about 70 kilometers away from Tokyo. It is surprisingly quiet, and about half of the 260 shops and restaurants have been closed.

Japanese souvenir company Amina has closed three souvenir stores in Narita . The person in charge said it is unlikely to reopen by next spring. The company relocated its employees and supplies to 120 chain stores across Japan to focus on the domestic tourism industry during the epidemic.

For Japan, the Japanese government will launch a domestic tourism discount this month to provide transportation and accommodation discounts. In 2020, the Japanese government held a similar "Go To Travel" event, but the scope of use of the event was reduced after the surge in the number of people infected with the new crown of . The tight tourism industry faces the same tight labor market

Data from Japanese market research firm Teikoku Databank showed that in August, nearly 73% of hotels across Japan said they lack formal employees, compared with about 27% a year ago.

An anonymous travel company consultant said that many service industry practitioners have found better jobs in other areas over the past two years, so it is difficult to attract them back.

He added: "The low wages in the hotel industry are notorious, so if the government regards tourism as a key industry, it may require financial support or subsidies."