The government will consider resuming its subsidy program aimed at promoting domestic tourism only in some parts of the country, even if the current state of emergency over the novel coronavirus is completely lifted, tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said Thursday.
The idea of potentially restarting the Go To Travel campaign comes as Japan is set to end its second state of emergency for six prefectures west of the Tokyo metropolitan area at the end of this month, as the rate of infection is no longer considered dire. The six prefectures are Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka.
The nation's second state of emergency was first declared for a month on Jan. 7 and later extended to March 7. Unlike the first one last spring, it only covered the Tokyo metropolitan area and some other areas of the country that had seen a resurgence of infections.