On May 10, the Japan Tourism Agency and the Japan Association of Travel Agents issued the "Now is the Time to Go Overseas! Declaration" was issued by the Japan Tourism Agency and the Japan Association of Travel Agents on May 10.
The new corona pandemic has prevented many people from going abroad.
The figure below shows the transition of people entering and leaving Japan.
The yellow graph shows the number of Japanese who went abroad, and the light blue graph shows the number of foreigners who came to Japan from abroad.
Japan started the "Vist Japan" campaign to attract tourists from abroad in 2003, and at that time, the number of Japanese going abroad was 2.5 times larger than the number of foreigners coming to Japan.
In 2015, the number of foreigners visiting Japan became larger than the number of Japanese going abroad, and by 2019, the number of foreigners visiting Japan was 1.5 times larger than the number of Japanese going abroad.
This trend continues to this day.
Despite having the world's most powerful passport (193 countries can be entered without a visa), the percentage of Japanese who go abroad has been decreasing.
This is why the campaign "Now is the time to go abroad! campaign has been launched.
The campaign also offers an electronic gift of 8,000 yen, half the cost of obtaining a passport valid for 10 years.
The Philippines is included among the overseas destinations that are the focus of this campaign.
We hope that young people, especially those with rich sensibilities, will go abroad.
