The slump in the yen has turned Japan from a pricey bucket-list trip to a relatively inexpensive tourism and shopping destination. - Photo: Reuters
TOKYO: Foreign visitors arriving in Japan may get to breeze through immigration soon, as the country looks for new ways to amplify a tourism boom that is boosting its economy.
The government will introduce a new pre-clearance system from January 2025, starting with tourists from Taiwan, national broadcaster NHK reported on Friday (July 19).
Visitors will be able to complete most of their immigration screening before departure to help shorten the time taken for entry procedures on arrival, according to NHK.
The decision comes amid record numbers of tourists already visiting the country.
Around 17.8 million people came in the first half of 2024, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation. June also marked the fourth straight month with more than three million visitors.
The slump in the yen has turned Japan from a pricey bucket-list trip to a relatively inexpensive tourism and shopping destination.
At a meeting to promote tourism on July 19, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was set to declare that 8 trillion yen (S$68.3 billion) of spending by foreign visitors is within sight in 2024.
“It’s critical to promote the number of visitors to local regions, while preventing and keeping control of overtourism,” Kishida told a ministerial council.
The prime minister called for the use of technology to ease congestion at airports, travel networks and popular destinations.
He’s also seeking to boost the attractiveness of Japan’s national parks and promote sports tourism, as part of the government’s goal to reach 60 million visitors annually by 2030.
Underscoring booming inbound travel demand, ANA Holdings said it will start three European routes from Haneda Airport this winter, starting with Milan in December, Stockholm in January and Istanbul in February.
“We will continue to expand our network,” ANA president Shinichi Inoue said at a news conference on July 19.
In addition, ANA started daily flights to Paris and Munich in July ahead of the Paris Olympics and plans to restart its Haneda-Vienna route in August.
Japan’s airports have been dealing with a jet-fuel shortage that has impacted foreign carriers seeking to increase flights to the country.
While efforts are in place to ease the shortage by boosting production and imports, Kishida called on the council to take urgent measure to secure supplies.
The influx is providing a boost to Japan’s fragile economy.
The currency hit a 38-year low against the dollar earlier in July as the gap in interest rates between Japan and the US continued to keep downward pressure on the Asian currency.
While the weakness in the yen is attracting tourists and shoppers to Japan, it is also fuelling the strongest inflation cycle in decades, a factor that is dragging on domestic consumer spending.
Foreign visitors spent 2.14 trillion yen in the April-June quarter, according to figures released by the Japan Tourism Agency on July 19.
There has also been a growing backlash among some locals annoyed by the ever-increasing influx.
Kyoto’s local district council has banned visitors from the narrow private streets of the Gion district, while the local authorities in Fujikawaguchiko erected a barrier to stop tourists from taking photos of a convenience store with Mt Fuji in the background. - Bloomberg
