Photo/Illutration Tourism officials from across the world join Japanese officials to promote overseas travel at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Tokyo on May 10. (Sachiko Miwa)

To help revive overseas tourism, Japan’s travel industry has teamed with the government to offer discounts on passport fees.

The Japan Association of Travel Agents and the Japan Tourism Agency announced plans on May 10 to encourage more Japanese to travel abroad.

An 8,000 yen ($59.60) discount on passport applications or renewal fees will be given to more than 3,000 lottery winners.

Other promotional offers include tour plans with free gifts and services.

Tourism agencies from 24 countries and regions including China, South Korea, the United States and France have joined the initiative.

Outbound tourism remains at 30 percent of the levels before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a stark contrast to the 80 percent in the United States and nearly 70 percent in France, according to the association.

Even South Korea and Taiwan, which reopened their borders around the same time as Japan, are performing much better than Japan.

“There are two main reasons for that: psychological and economical,” said Hiroyuki Takahashi, who heads the association.

Takahashi said many in Japan are still worried about novel coronavirus infections or don’t want to stand out among others.

Rising flight and accommodation fees, pushed up by the weak yen, are other factors.

The psychological hurdles are now easier to remove as the disease was recently reclassified into a category of less severe infections in the country, Takahashi said.

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