The Japanese Tourism Agency (JTA) has said tourists from 98 countries including the UK will be allowed to enter Japan on fully escorted group tours with set itineraries run by licensed Japanese tour operators. It ends a ban that has lasted nearly three years.
There will be no quarantine or testing required in Japan, but all travellers will need to produce proof of a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to departure and adequate Covid-19 medical insurance.
“This is the first major step towards opening borders to tourism again,” said InsideJapan co-founder and director Simon King.
“InsideJapan is one of the few British tour operators with full JTA membership and registered travel agency status in Japan, which means that we are in a position to restart our small group tours programme again, which is excellent news.”
King added the operator needed time to restart tours, so would run a selection “from July onwards”. These will include the 10-night HyperJapan J-pop & Go! tour and the 13-night Japan Unmasked tours already scheduled for July. It will also run its high-end fully escorted Exclusive Private Journeys.
Wendy Wu Tours is another brand permitted to operate again. Wendy Wu, its founder, said: “This is fantastic news for the travel industry and for everyone that has had to delay and defer their Japan travel plans over the last three years.”
She said demand for 2023 tours to the spring cherry blossom festival and autumn foliage colours had been such that extra capacity for 2023 and 2024, had been added “which is selling out as quick as it goes on sale”.
