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Travel News Go To Travel campaign

thomas

Unswerving cyclist
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14 Mar 2002
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Tokyo will become eligible for the Go To Travel campaign. as of 1 October, which means that its 13.9 million residents will be allowed to claim some 50 per cent discount on travel expenses through a coupon system when travelling in Japan and, vice-versa, that domestic travellers can claim discounts when visiting the capital.

Similarly, the government's Go To Eat campaign will start next week.


 
This video says the Japanese government will pay half of cost for domestic travel for residents.


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


I believe it's been mentioned in a few threads here. :)
 
I really enjoy paolo his videos, especially the *a day in a life of a ..."
 
I believe it's been mentioned in a few threads here.

Thanks for the clarification!

Since we are on the topic of travel in Japan, I would like to recommend two YouTubers who regularly post Japan travel videos; Suits and Gami. (All videos are in Japanese with no English subtitles.)


Suits





Gami
 
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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 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.)

Japanese bureaucrats slow?
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The government has announced that as of mid-November the Go To Travel campaign will be restricted to seven nights and to journeys in which sightseeing is the main purpose. That excludes business trips as well as sojourns with accommodation plans that include yoga experiences and lessons for acquiring a diving license.

Makes sense.

 
After facing severe criticism, also in the light of the "maximum alert" declared yesterday, PM Suga announced several restrictions of the Go To Travel campaign.

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.



We have booked a few nights in December in a "doggy hotel" located in a "non-affected area" but we are now thinking of cancelling the trip... 😐
 
It is true about #1 Travel making noodles and JTB has plans to lay off about 6500 employees. (something like that )
 
Sapporo and Osaka will be excluded from the Go to Campaign for the next three weeks.

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."


Meanwhile, the long weekend saw travellers in pre-pandemic numbers descend on touristic areas in central Japan. I happened to pass through Kamakura on the bike last Sunday and can testify that social distancing was practically non-existent. I reckon that in the coming days the long weekend will likely cause significant spikes in infections, just like Thanksgiving will in the US.

 
In case you haven't taken advantage of the Go-To Travel campaign yet, fear not: it's been extended until June 2021.

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.

 
Today, the government announced that the Go-To Travel campaign will be interrupted between 28 December and 11 January. Nation-wide. Also, as of today, Tokyo and Nagoya have been removed from the destinations covered by the campaign.

"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.

 
The Go To Travel campaign is currently suspended nationwide until 7 March 2021. The Japanese government is considering to limit the amount of travel assistance from 20,000 JPY to 10,000 JPY per person per night once the campaign resumes.

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.

 
Maybe instead of trying to go to travel in the middle of the coof, the bureaucrats should have saved some money and gone to their eikaiwa lessons instead. Online, of course.
 
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.

 
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.


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

At least, it's not looking too bad: a vaccination rate of almost 75% (fully vaccinated), a total number of 107 cases today, 18 in Tokyo, less than ten people with severe symptoms nationwide, three corona-related deaths today, zero yesterday. Still, precautions are in place: almost everyone wears masks, temperatures are still being measured, sanitisers are ubiquitous.

We have booked our first domestic trip this year for December.
 
There was a company in the news today about ripping off the govt. I think it was a travel agency reporting working hours but no employees actually were working. I hope they lose their business license.
 
Reportedly, the government will resume the Go To Travel programme in February 2022:

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.

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



Will the test be free?
Will JR give discounts? By the way, JR does NOT even give discounts to the disable. ( rules may have changed since it was last posted )

Okinawa I think is going to be a travel destination for the Japanese since many hotels are being booked in Hawaii these days from mainlanders in the US.
 
The Japanese government plans to restart the Go To Travel campaign by the end of January 2022, assuming that infection cases for the omicron variant of COVID-19 are subdued. At the same time, it was reported that the travel promotion campaign was the reason behind a Covid-19 spike in Hokkaido in the autumn of last year.

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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