Discount travel packages for trips to and from Tokyo are set to go on sale at noon Friday under the government's Go To Travel tourism support campaign, announced tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Tokyo, originally excluded from the program during its July 22 launch, is to be added to the scheme on Oct. 1.
Should the number of those infected with the novel coronavirus rapidly increase in the capital and the infection urgency level reaches Stage 3, the second-highest on the scale of one to four, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will then decide whether to go through with the addition or continue the omission of Tokyo from the subsidy.
A cancellation fee in the case of its omission will also be announced.
The government has plans to compensate tour operators for losses incurred as a result of any further omission from the campaign just as was done during Tokyo's exclusion.
This measure will also be applied to other prefectures if the infection urgency level reaches or surpasses Stage 3.
"The [program's] target area may change depending on the current status of infection. We'd like people to understand that there are certain risks involved with this program," said Akaba, head of the ministry.
According to the ministry, 13.39 million users had participated in the program as of the end of August. From October, the ministry has plans to begin distributing coupons that can be used at travel destinations, as well as offering discounts of up to 35% on travel expenses.
-- Participants wanted for Go To Eat program
The government announced Tuesday that it began inviting restaurants across the country to join its Go To Eat program, under which points are offered to customers who make restaurant reservations online. The points can be used on their next visit to the establishment.
The points are expected to be available for use from Oct. 1. The program's launch in each prefecture will be based on its status of infection.
Service users who make reservations through designated sites are set to receive 500 yen worth of points for lunch and 1,000 yen worth for dinner. Thirteen restaurant reservation websites, including Gurunavi, have been selected.
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