While France hardens its border control policy in the face of the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic, other countries like Argentina are doing everything to attract tourists again. In Japan, the return of foreigners is tricky.
Argentina wants to revive its economy thanks to tourism
Foreign travelers have returned to Argentine soil since November 1. The authorities hope to revive an economy at half mast. Argentina was already in recession before the Covid and the health crisis has, of course, not helped anything. According to the latest statistics, four out of ten Argentines live below the poverty line, or 19 million people. The reopening of borders therefore leaves hope for the tourism sector, which represents 10% of GDP.
Tito works in Puerto Iguazu, on the border with Brazil and Paraguay, a few kilometers from the famous waterfalls and their million and a half annual visitors before the pandemic: “Iguazu was one of the most affected cities in Argentina, many families have suffered, businesses have closed, markets, restaurants, but now with the reopening of the borders, things will return to normal and we are relieved, happy, we want to move on. “
Tito saw the tourists coming back little by little. First those from neighboring countries, for which Argentina reopened its doors on October 1, and now those from around the world since November 1. The recovery is slow as evidenced by the many restaurants closed. Even in Chutes National Park, there are few foreigners. Chloé, a Frenchwoman is one of the rare visitors: “There were a few people but it’s true that I had the impression that it was not full …”
“There aren’t many Europeans a priori. In the restaurants which are usually crowded with people, we had room.”
Chloé, French touristto franceinfo
To attract tourists, especially Europeans, Argentina is counting on record inflation affecting the country. The Argentinian peso is not worth much any more, mechanically providing a strong purchasing power to the visitors. The population can breathe a little, the government has frozen the prices of 1,400 basic necessities until the end of the year and hopes that by then, thanks to tourism, the Argentine economy will have restarted. .
Entering Japan, an obstacle course
In Japan, the borders are hardly opened. Foreigners are only accepted if they are traveling for business or to study and if they meet very specific criteria. For the moment, apart from residents authorized to return from a stay abroad, only people who have a host organization in Japan, a company, a school or a university are admitted to Japanese territory with a special visa. . It is only issued on file, after approval of the documents submitted by the host organization which formally undertakes that people entering the country scrupulously respect the health measures and travel restrictions imposed on them. . Monitoring is applied. For people on a short business trip, the quarantine is reduced to three days if they are fully vaccinated, but it remains 10 or 14 days for students
According to government information, nearly 400,000 people are currently hoping to enter Japan. Most of these candidates are students who have sometimes been waiting since early 2020, ie more than 250,000 young people. However, since the government puts a cap on the number of admissions per day, it will take months for all of them to come, in an order defined by the government. Some have already given up.
The reestablishment of the reception of foreign tourists in Japan is not for tomorrow but the government plans to quickly define a first timetable and to carry out experiments for group tourism as a first step.
The reestablishment of the reception of foreign tourists in Japan is not for tomorrow but the government plans to quickly define a first timetable and to carry out experiments for group tourism as a first step.
– 西村 カ リ ン (Karyn NISHIMURA) (@karyn_nishi) November 9, 2021
In addition, all the easing measures announced are likely to be suspended in the event of a new epidemic wave. This is what deputy government spokesperson Seiji Kihara announced last week: “Regarding border measures, we will continue to monitor the situation of infections, especially those linked to variants and react quickly to any worsening while at the same time reflecting on further easing.”
Japan, which has not implemented a nationwide health pass, is also an extremely popular tourist destination. But for the time being, there is no timetable for reopening the borders for simple leisure travel. Experiments will first be carried out with groups perhaps by the end of the year at best. For individual travelers, it will probably be necessary to wait at least until the beginning of the year 2022.