Japan raises daily cap on tourists

More Hong Kong holidaymakers can travel to tourist favorite Japan, which is set to more than double its daily inbound traveler quota and scrap the requirement for a negative Covid test.

But local tour agencies are not too excited about the relaxation as travelers still face tests and quarantine on their way back home. At the same time Japanese flights have yet to resume prepandemic levels.

Japanese broadcaster FNN said the daily limit on tourists will be raised to 50,000 people as soon as next month from the current 20,000, citing unidentified government officials.

Authorities are also considering a gradual easing of testing requirements, such as initially exempting fully vaccinated people, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Travelers currently need to submit negative results from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure to Japan.

It has also been rumored that Japan may allow individual visitors from next month.

Before the pandemic, the country known for its vibrant cities and unique culture was in the midst of a tourism boom, with inbound visitors reaching a record in 2019.

Airlines, hotels and retailers are all eager to regain the business they lost. The small trickle of foreigners allowed into Japan last year spent 120 billion yen (HK$6.85 billion).

In 2019, they spent 4.8 trillion yen, or 40 times more, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

While the Japanese tourism industry is thrilled about welcoming more visitors, Hong Kong tour agencies are more conservative about the boost in their businesses.

WWPKG chief executive Yuen Chun-ning said holidaymakers are still deterred by test and isolation requirements in Hong Kong even after authorities cut hotel quarantine to three days followed by four days of medical surveillance.

"Hong Kong is requiring arrivals to take the PCR test within 48 hours before boarding flights," he said. "If a tourist unfortunately tests positive, we will need to make a series of changes - like their Japan hotel stay, flight tickets and quarantine hotel bookings," Yuen said.

"This creates a lot of trouble for us because we never know when the tourist will turn negative again. It may take weeks. And what if the infected person is traveling with his family and children - is there an adult to bring the children back to Hong Kong first?"

He said out of around 20 Japan tour groups his agency has hosted since June 24, six people in three groups tested positive just before they were about to return to Hong Kong.

"The risk for outbound travel [to any] part of the world is very high as long as we still have the preflight PCR test requirement for arrivals in Hong Kong," he said.

EGL Tours executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said since the "3+4 quarantine" measure, his agency has received 10 times more daily inquiries.

Asked whether EGL will add more groups to Japan, he said: "For now, we can't estimate how much effect the Japanese policy change will have."

He said the boost should be bigger if the country is opening to individual visitors instead of only allowing tour groups

"But airlines have not fully resumed their flights. I'm sure if they see more travelers they'd slowly get flights back on track, but if the demand becomes higher than supply, plane tickets may become more expensive," he said.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com