With international inbound tourism restricted due to Covid-19, Japan has switched gears to heavily promote domestic tourism instead to help the local hospitality industry. Cue the popular Go to Travel campaign: this domestic travel subsidy was created to help boost local businesses by offering Japan’s residents up to 50 percent discounts on hotel stays, transportation, dining, shopping, tours and sightseeing across Japan. The pandemic aside, for those living in Japan, this could just be the best time to see the country for cheap.
The travel campaign started on July 22 and is expected to end on January 31 2021 – but now it seems like the campaign could be extended. According to The Japan Times, the government is looking to extend the programme through next year’s spring holiday season, but a new end-date has yet to be determined.
Aside from the possible extension, the government also plans to boost travel incentives to help benefit inexpensive accommodations and smaller travel agencies. Similarly, the government is also looking to encourage people to take more trips on weekdays rather than just the weekends.
To further finance the travel subsidy, the government is considering drafting a third supplementary budget for fiscal 2020 should the campaign deplete its initial budget of ¥1.35 trillion. So far, the Go to Travel campaign has subsidised 25.18 million domestic overnight stays within its first two months, using up a total of ¥109.9 billion in government funds.
Want to get in on the Go to Travel discounts? We’ll show you how.
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