Japan to Permit Limited Foreign Travel Groups
2022-05-20
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1Japan's government will begin permitting small group tours from four countries later this month.
2Japan is slowly opening up to foreign tourism after putting in place strong border restrictions because of COVID-19.
3Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said Tuesday that tours will be permitted from Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States as an experiment.
4Those taking part must have three vaccine shots.
5The tours must also have guides and fixed plans.
6Each tour can have at most four people.
7A total of 50 people are expected to join the experiment, the Japan Tourism Agency said.
8Participants will enter Japan on a special visa, not a tourist visa, the agency said.
9The results will be used to create coronavirus guidelines for tour operators, hotels and other related businesses, it said.
10The experiment is expected to start next week and continue until the end of May.
11Additional details, including the length of the tours and where they will go, have yet to be decided.
12Japan's tourism industry is hopeful travelers will return soon.
13The industry has been hit hard by the border controls.
14But COVID-19 infections have slowed in Japan since earlier this year and the government is slowly expanding social and economic activity.
15After facing criticism that its border controls were xenophobic, Japan began easing restrictions earlier this year.
16The country currently permits entry of up to 10,000 people from foreign countries each day.
17That includes Japanese citizens, foreign students and some business travelers.
18The government is reportedly considering increasing the daily total to 20,000 in the coming weeks.
19Currently, foreign tourists are not permitted to enter.
20Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech during a visit to London earlier in May that he plans to ease the border controls as early as June.
21That would be in line with the policies of other Group of Seven industrialized countries.
22He gave no additional details.
23Foreign tourist arrivals fell more than 90 percent in 2020 from a record 31.9 million the year before.
24Before the pandemic, the tourism market brought the country more than $31 billion a year.
25I'm Dan Novak.
1Japan's government will begin permitting small group tours from four countries later this month. 2Japan is slowly opening up to foreign tourism after putting in place strong border restrictions because of COVID-19. 3Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said Tuesday that tours will be permitted from Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States as an experiment. 4Those taking part must have three vaccine shots. The tours must also have guides and fixed plans. Each tour can have at most four people. A total of 50 people are expected to join the experiment, the Japan Tourism Agency said. 5Participants will enter Japan on a special visa, not a tourist visa, the agency said. The results will be used to create coronavirus guidelines for tour operators, hotels and other related businesses, it said. 6The experiment is expected to start next week and continue until the end of May. Additional details, including the length of the tours and where they will go, have yet to be decided. 7Japan's tourism industry is hopeful travelers will return soon. The industry has been hit hard by the border controls. But COVID-19 infections have slowed in Japan since earlier this year and the government is slowly expanding social and economic activity. 8After facing criticism that its border controls were xenophobic, Japan began easing restrictions earlier this year. The country currently permits entry of up to 10,000 people from foreign countries each day. That includes Japanese citizens, foreign students and some business travelers. The government is reportedly considering increasing the daily total to 20,000 in the coming weeks. Currently, foreign tourists are not permitted to enter. 9Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech during a visit to London earlier in May that he plans to ease the border controls as early as June. That would be in line with the policies of other Group of Seven industrialized countries. He gave no additional details. 10Foreign tourist arrivals fell more than 90 percent in 2020 from a record 31.9 million the year before. Before the pandemic, the tourism market brought the country more than $31 billion a year. 11I'm Dan Novak. 12Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. 13_____________________________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15tour - n. an activity in which travelers go to a place to learn more about it and to have fun 16tourism - n. the activity of traveling to another place or country for pleasure 17xenophobic- adj. to have fear or anger at foreigners