Initially suspended during the year-end and New Year holiday season, Japan's domestic travel discount program was reinstated on Tuesday in hopes of giving a boost to the hospitality industry, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The discount program is expected to end in stages as each prefecture runs out of funds allocated from the central government. But the government says the program will likely last until the end of March.

The discount has been scaled down from what it was in December — from up to ¥11,000 (about $84) to a maximum ¥7,000 per night per person.