Photo/Illutration Passengers line up at a check-in counter at Haneda Airport on Sept. 7. (Shinya Matsumoto)

Entry restrictions on foreign tourists were further relaxed on Sept. 7, but a sudden surge in such visitors is not expected because some unpopular border rules still apply.

The government now allows small groups of tourists to arrive in Japan without a guide, but individuals must arrange their visits through a travel agency.

Moreover, all tourists still must obtain visas before entering Japan.

Restrictions abroad have also reduced the number of tourists to Japan.

China, which accounted for about 30 percent of all inbound tourists before the novel coronavirus pandemic, has maintained its own ban on foreign group tours.

A similar ban is also in place in Taiwan, which accounted for 15 percent of foreign tourists to Japan in 2019. Returning Taiwan residents must also self-quarantine for three days, further dampening enthusiasm for trips abroad.

An official with a major travel agency in Taipei said long lines were forming to obtain tourist visas to Japan, and that the earliest that such visas could be obtained was in late October.

South Korea has eased restrictions on both outgoing and inbound tourists. Since late August, the pace of reservations for trips to Japan has increased fourfold, according to an official with a major South Korean travel agency.

One source said the lifting of the required negative COVID-19 tests for entry to both Japan and South Korea has created greater momentum for trips to the other nation.

But a source at another travel agency said a surge in trips to Japan will come only after the visa requirement is lifted.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Wang Yong, 52, who has handled trips to Japan for about 20 years at a travel agency in Qingdao, Shandong province, in eastern China.

“If the visa requirement was removed, there are many Chinese who would like to visit Japan even if the costs are high,” Wang said.

The limited number of direct flights to and from Japan has led to one-way tickets costing about 300,000 yen ($2,080). But Wang said many inquiries were still being made about possible trips to Japan.

The rule banning individual tourists from arranging their own trips also remains a huge barrier.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, 72.6 percent of all foreign arrivals in 2019 made their own travel arrangements, greatly exceeding the ratio of those who came on group tours.

Department stores, which were popular destinations for foreign tourists, are not expecting much effect from the latest easing of entry restrictions.

“It will still be somewhat in the future before Chinese customers return,” said an official with H2O Retailing Corp., which operates the Hankyu and Hanshin department stores. “A true recovery of our business will also be in the future.”

TAS Co., a Tokyo-based company that specializes in inbound trips, has received a larger number of inquiries from residents of the United States and the Philippines about unescorted trips to Japan.

“Escorted trips are not suitable for small groups because the cost of the guide is tacked on,” a company official said. “We also want to include larger segments of time when the tourist can do whatever they want to.”

As for outbound travelers, the lifting of the COVID-19 testing requirement has increased interest in overseas travel among Japanese.

Both Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said reservations for international flights in October increased by 2.3-fold from around Aug. 24, when the announcement was made about relaxing entry restrictions.

(This article was written by Shinya Matsumoto, Tomohiko Kaneko, Akihiro Nishiyama in Beijing, Koichiro Ishida in Taipei and Kiyohide Inada in Seoul.)

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