Tourism Go To Travel campaign

mdchachi said:

Yep. I bet if I were living there my wife would want to take advantage of the campaign for sure.

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thomas said:

I believe it's been mentioned in a few threads here.

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Travel agencies left holding the bag in 'Go To Travel' program

Buntaro said:

Travel agencies left holding the bag in 'Go To Travel' program

"The government's "Go To Travel" program proved to be a boon to the tourism industry reeling from the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but many small and midsize travel agencies are still awaiting payment of sums they temporarily footed to give travelers a discount.

"The program provides a 35-percent discount on the cost of transportation and lodging to tourists who make reservations with registered travel agencies. Because the full amount of a trip is paid to airline and railway companies as well as hotels, the travel agency has to front the 35-percent amount to those businesses.

"But many small travel agencies around Japan are griping that the government secretariat handling the paperwork is too slow in reimbursing them for the discounted amount.

"The Chiba Prefecture association of travel agencies has about 250 member companies, and about half of them signed up for the "Go To Travel" program. So far, not a single one of those companies has been reimbursed."

(cont.)

Travel agencies left holding the bag in ‘Go To Travel’ program | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

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Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga abruptly announced Saturday that areas experiencing the brunt of a nationwide surge in COVID-19 infections will be removed indefinitely from an ongoing government tourism promotion campaign. Top officials had been adamant that despite the onset of a third wave of the novel coronavirus, government-funded programs meant to subsidize the food, entertainment and tourism industries would proceed.

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Effective immediately and for three weeks, new reservations in the two cities will not be accepted, officials said. Reservations made before the announcement will be canceled and reimbursed, and the impact on local businesses compensated, by the central government. "This will have a large impact on travelers and local businesses alike," said tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba. "It was a bitter decision to make."

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It initially budgeted spending for Go-To Travel to run through the end of January. But as novel coronavirus infections continue to surge and with the domestic economy on the decline once again, officials will extend the campaign to help prop up the economy. To avoid the number of Go-To Travel users concentrating on weekends, the tourism ministry will discuss reducing the discounts on weekends and changing the ratio of the 15-per cent discount shopping voucher.

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"All steps need to be taken to protect lives and stop the virus from spreading further," Suga said during a government task force meeting Monday evening. His remarks suggest that efforts to concurrently keep the economy functioning and contain the virus have hit a wall, with record-breaking cases emerging nationwide almost daily since late October. The prime minister "not only adopted what the (government coronavirus) subcommittee has proposed, but took it a step further," said Shigeru Omi, chair of the government's virus subcommittee, following Suga's announcement. "It's a strong message by the central and local governments that they are determined to overcome this crisis," Omi said. Effective Monday, Suga said Tokyo and Nagoya will be removed as eligible destinations for the Go To Travel campaign. Aichi Prefecture also expanded its request for restaurants and bars that serve alcohol to close at 9 p.m., currently in place for part of Naka Ward in the city of Nagoya, to the whole ward and will extend the request to Jan. 11. Businesses that comply will receive ¥20,000 a day.

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Several options are under consideration. One of them is to reduce the amount to ¥10,000 first before cutting it further in stages, the sources said. Another calls for slashing the sum to ¥5,000 while extending the program until autumn this year or the end of the year beyond the current expiration at the end of June, they said. The Go To Travel program received about ¥1 trillion in funding under the government's fiscal 2020 third supplementary budget. But the program has been put on hold since December due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

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thomas said:

Though no details have been reported yet, it seems that the government plans to restart the Go To Travel subsidy programme to promote domestic tourism.

Gov't eyes over ¥30 tril economic stimulus; restarting Go To Travel program

The government plans to spend more than 30 trillion yen on a set of measures to ease the fallout on the Japanese economy from the coronavirus pandemic, sources close to the matter said Sunday. The stimulus package will include providing 100,000 yen in cash handouts for all children aged 18…

japantoday.com

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Petaris said:

I didn't realize Japan had already resolved its COVID crisis.....

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Japan's Go To Travel domestic tourism subsidy program may resume in February after being suspended since late last year amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, with the campaign to include compulsory virus countermeasures, government sources said Thursday. [...] The government is planning to require people taking advantage of the Go To Travel program to show proof of vaccination or a negative virus test result when they check into accommodation and on other occasions, according to the sources. [...] The government is considering lowering the per night subsidy cap to ¥13,000 as the relatively large original discount was criticized for benefiting luxury hotels rather than more reasonably priced operations, according to the sources.

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thomas said:

Reportedly, the government will resume the Go To Travel programme in February 2022:

Japan's Go To Travel subsidy program to resume possibly in February

The tourism industry and local governments that were financially devastated by the pandemic have been calling for the Go To Travel program to be quickly restarted.

www.japantimes.co.jp

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The strain of the virus responsible for the bulk of the surge in infections in Hokkaido in autumn 2020 apparently came from the Kinki region at the end of September that year, according to the researchers. They also found that many strains of the virus had been brought into Hokkaido from Tokyo and other parts of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area since October last year, likely accounting for five of the eight instances.

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