Japan May Restart Domestic Travel Subsidies by mid-January

According to the Nikkei newspaper, the Japanese government is weighing options to resume domestic travel subsidies as early as January next year. This move will help boost the tourism industry and ease strain on local hotels and airlines businesses affected by the pandemic.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s new pandemic relief stimulus program will include a number of subsidies for domestic travel. Previously, the government paused one of its subsidy programs due to growing covid infection rates. The tourism industry has asked the government to consider the travel program and offer bigger discounts for travel during the weekdays to help counter an influx of travelers on weekends.

The Nikkei said that under the new program, more attractive discounts will be given to consumers who are willing to travel on weekdays. However, no government official has released any comment or statement on this matter so far. According to a Reuters poll, the nation’s economy saw annualized contraction of 0.8% for the third quarter due to emergency covid restrictions.

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