Photo/Illutration A poster promoting the Go To Travel program is seen at a shop in the Asakusa district in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Dec. 28. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The government will roll out a new travel subsidy program to rescue the embattled tourism industry.

The two-month campaign in April and May will provide a subsidy of up to 5,000 yen ($45.50) per person per day to add to the benefits provided by prefectural discount programs. The program will only cover hotel stays in the prefectures where the beneficiaries reside.

The government is hoping to resume the nationwide Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign as early as June. The new program, a local Go To Travel campaign, so to speak, is a stopgap measure until then.

Editorials in The Asahi Shimbun have called on the government to avoid taking policy measures to stimulate demand for travel similar to usual steps to pump up the economy when it is in bad shape until the new coronavirus is fully brought under control.

But making policy efforts to boost travel demand only in areas where infections are not spreading fast is a reasonable option. Many prefectural governments are offering their own programs to support the local hospitality industry.

But the fact is that new COVID-19 cases have been surging in some prefectures, including Miyagi, Yamagata, Osaka and Ehime, since the government lifted its state of emergency for hot-spot areas.

The effects of new variants of the virus on the overall COVID-19 situation have yet to be analyzed adequately.

It should be kept in mind that local health care systems in rural areas, which do not have many large hospitals, could be easily strained once the virus starts spreading rapidly.

To be eligible for the new tourism promotion program, a prefecture needs to have an infection situation that is not worse than being in Stage 2, which denotes new cases are growing but only gradually and is the second lowest in the four-level COVID-19 alert system.

Whether to apply for the program is left up to the governor of each prefecture.

In deciding to apply, governors should carefully assess the local situation. They should also be ready to suspend it immediately if they spot signs that infections are spreading rapidly.

Our fear is that this state subsidy program could unnecessarily stimulate people’s appetite for travel by making them feel that they will miss out on major benefits if they fail to take advantage of it.

We are also concerned that the assessments and decisions by governors related to the program could be affected by strong pressure from struggling local tourist-related businesses.

The fact that the subsidy program will cover only travel in April and May, at least for now, could prod governors into making hasty decisions to apply.

The government should make any leftover funds available for subsidies to be provided in June or later so that governors will not feel pressured to make quick decisions.

Another problem with the program is that the money will be only available for subsidizing discounts. It is also possible to support tourism-related businesses by handing out cash directly to them.

It would be better if governors are allowed to decide how the funds should be used to best support their respective local tourist industries.

If the vaccination program goes smoothly, it may become clearer when and how the economy will return to normal.

The top policy priority at the moment should be stemming the spread of infections and securing enough health care workers for vaccinations.

If policy efforts to ramp up demand for travel now cause the public health crisis to last longer, the upshot would be an even bigger blow to the tourism industry.

Both the central and local governments should remain keenly aware of this risk.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 30

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