(Bloomberg) — Foreign visitors to Japan may soon have easier access to passport control as the country seeks new ways to boost the tourism boom that is boosting its economy.
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The government will introduce a new pre-screening system for tourists from Taiwan from January next year, NHK reported on Friday. According to the station, tourists will be able to complete most of their immigration procedures before they depart, shortening the time it takes to go through immigration procedures upon arrival.
The decision comes as record numbers of tourists are already visiting Japan: Some 17.8 million people visited the country in the first half of the year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization, and June was the fourth consecutive month with visitor numbers exceeding 3 million.
The weak yen has transformed Japan from an expensive, once-in-a-lifetime trip destination into a relatively cheap sightseeing and shopping destination. At a tourism promotion conference on Friday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared that spending by foreign tourists is on track to reach 8 trillion yen ($51 billion) in 2024.
“It is extremely important to increase the number of visitors to regional areas while preventing and curbing overtourism,” Kishida told a cabinet meeting. He called for using technology to ease congestion at airports, transport networks and popular tourist destinations. He also wants to boost the appeal of Japan’s national parks and promote sports tourism as part of the government’s goal of attracting 60 million visitors a year by 2030.
In response to the rapidly increasing demand for travel to Japan, ANA Holdings has announced that it will launch three European routes from Haneda this winter: Milan in December, Stockholm in January, and Istanbul in February.
“We will continue to expand our network,” All Nippon Airways President Shinichi Inoue said at a press conference on Friday, adding that the airline will also begin daily flights to Paris and Munich in July ahead of the Paris Olympics, and will resume its Haneda-Vienna route in August.
Japan’s airports are suffering from a shortage of jet fuel, affecting foreign airlines seeking to increase the number of flights to Japan. Efforts are being made to alleviate the shortage by increasing production and imports, but Kishida urged the council to take emergency measures to ensure supplies.
The inflows are a boost to Japan’s fragile economy. Interest rate differentials between Japan and the United States continue to pressure the yen, which hit a 38-year low against the dollar earlier this month, and while a weak yen is attracting tourists and shoppers to Japan, it is also fueling the strongest inflation cycle in decades and weighing on domestic consumer spending.
Foreign tourists spent 2.14 trillion yen in the April-June period, according to figures released by the Japan Tourism Agency on Friday.
There is also growing resentment among local residents who are unhappy with the ever-increasing influx of immigrants.
The Kyoto City Council has banned visitors from entering a narrow private road in the Gion district, while the local government of the town of Fujikawaguchiko has erected fences to stop tourists taking photos at a convenience store with Mount Fuji in the background.
–With assistance from Supriya Singh and Yuki Hagiwara.
(Updated with Prime Minister’s comments, travel statistics, etc.)
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