Press Conference by the Prime Minister on His Visit to Toyama Prefecture and Other Matters

[Provisional translation]

(On the notification to the Japanese government from the Chinese Government regarding its decision to lift the ban on group tours to Japan)
 
I am aware that the Chinese Government has announced that it will lift its ban today on group tours from China to Japan, which has been restricted until now. The number of foreign visitors to Japan in June this year was around 2.07 million, which represents a recovery of 93% from pre-COVID-19 figures if we exclude visitors from China. On the other hand, however, the number of visitors to Japan from China was restored by only 24% from pre-COVID levels to 210,000, according to figures as of June. In March this year, the Government formulated the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan, which aims to restore the number of visitors to Japan to pre-COVID levels by 2025, and to achieve an early realization of the annual target of five trillion yen in inbound consumption by foreign visitors, among others. Now that China has lifted its ban on group tours to Japan, we hope to see inbound tourists from China restored and boosted further. Our objective is to revive Japan’s tourism industry in a sustainable manner.