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’Ghost town’: Japan reopens borders, but visitors find short-staffed hotels and closed up shops

euronews.com

Japan fully reopens to tourists this week after two years of COVID-19 restrictions. However, shuttered shops and a shortage of hospitality workers threaten the country's hopes for a tourism boom.From Tuesday, Japan will reinstate visa-free travel to dozens of countries, ending some of world's strictest border controls to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on tourism to help invigorate the economy and reap some benefits from the yen's slide to a 24-year low.Just over half a million visitors have come to Japan so far in 2022, compared with a record 31.8 million in 2019.

The government had a goal of 40 million in 2020 timed with the Summer Olympics until both were upended by the coronavirus.Kishida said last week the government is aiming to attract 5 trillion yen (€34.5 billion) in annual tourist spending.

But that goal may be too ambitious for a sector that has atrophied during the pandemic. Hotel employment slumped 22 per cent between 2019 and 2021, according to government data.Spending from overseas visitors will reach only 2.1 trillion yen (€14.9b) by 2023 and won't exceed pre-COVID levels until 2025, wrote Nomura Research Institute economist Takahide Kiuchi in a report.Flag carrier Japan Airlines Co has seen inbound bookings triple since the border easing announcement, president Yuji Akasaka said last week, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

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