Japan’s Go to Travel campaign sounds like a dream: the government provides subsidies of up to 50 percent for domestic travel, benefiting overworked residents, struggling tourist businesses and the economy. However, the campaign seems to be off to a rocky start; the ever-increasing number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases means travel to and from Tokyo has been excluded from the promotion.
Since Tokyo's exclusion was only decided a week after the campaign was announced, the national government has asked hotels and tour groups not to charge cancellation fees for those who booked trips to or from Tokyo between July 10 and 17; instead, the government will cover any cancellation costs for affected travellers.
Unfortunately, this seems to be a one-time thing. The Japan Times reports that if more regions are excluded from the Go to Travel scheme in the future, travellers will have to cover any cancellation fees themselves. If they decide to go on the trip as planned, they’ll have to pay the full cost as the trip to that region is no longer eligible for the campaign discounts.
So far, no other regions in Japan have been excluded from the Go to Travel campaign and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has reportedly said ‘the government is not considering excluding areas other than Tokyo for the time being.’
See our guide to going out safely in Tokyo and Japan.
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