Tour Operators Sell Japan Trips But Remain on Standby for Reopening
Photo Credit: Kinkakuji in Kyoto is one location foreign visitors to Japan will visits in large numbers once the country reopens Wikimedia Commons / Kimon Berlin
Skift Take
It's a bit presumptuous for tour operators to believe Japan will soon reopen in time for the popular spring season considering that the country doesn't seem to be in any hurry to welcome more foreign visitors despite increasing pressure to do so.
Although numerous destinations around the world have reopened for tourism in the last several months, several noticeable exceptions remain — one of them being Japan.
The country, which closed its doors to foreign visitors in March 2020 and has only welcomed travelers connected to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, technical intern trainees, businesspeople and students since then, announced earlier this month that it's extending its entry ban for tourists until the end of February.
However, numerous tour operators are still selling trips to Japan, optimistic that the lucrative market, which had seen a boom in visitation prior to the pandemic, will reopen for tourism later this year — maybe even for the busy spring season.
"We still have passengers on the books to travel in March and April of this year," said Jeff Roy, the executive vice president for Collette, referring to trips to the company's most popular destination in Asia. "It's the peak d
