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Welp, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it looks like Japan won’t be covering 1/2 the costs of your next visit to the country.
YOU HAD ME ALL EXCITED
A week ago, I wrote about Japans plan to lure foreign visitors back to the country (as soon as July) by covering half of their travel expenses.
A few days before this announcement, Japan had released some sobering stats concerning travel. For example, international arrivals fell 99.9% for April 2020 (year-over-year) and it was the first time since 1964 the amount of monthly visitors had dropped below 10,000 (2,900 visitors in April to be exact).
Although the details of the program had not been released, according to the Japan Times, the government was developing a ¥1.35 trillion (USD $12.5 billion) program to boost tourism.
As I said then, despite Japan Times being a reputable news organization, I expected some parameters to be implemented because it seemed too good to be true.
Yesterday, in a series of tweets, the Japan Tourism Agency refuted “reports by some news outlets that the Japanese government is considering a campaign to help foreign tourists visiting Japan by offering support for half of their travel expenses.”
Instead, they indicated that the money Japan is planning to spend on tourism will be for domestic tourism (rather than international tourism).
FINAL STAMP
I still stand by my words…Japan is one of the most unique countries on the face of the earth. No matter how many times you visit, you will always see (or experience) something that makes you say “this is amazing! Why didn’t I know about this the last time I was here!?” It’s one of my favorite countries!
Although, I recently postponed a scheduled trip to Japan in ANA First Class because of the current pandemic, Japan is one of the countries that I am most looking forward to visiting post-pandemic.
I guess I’ll just be paying the whole bill…with miles and points, of course. 😉
Are you disappointed by the news?
1TattedPassport 
It’s my favorite country as well and I wouldn’t expect Japan to pay for any of the cost for the way I like to travel.
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Could they afford that? 🤣 #FirstClassAllTheTime🙌🏾
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