Tokyo Resumes Travel Subsidy Program
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government resumed its own travel subsidy program on Thursday to encourage residents to enjoy trips in Tokyo while taking thorough coronavirus prevention measures.
Tokyo initially launched the program in 2020 in a bid to support the tourism industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic.
The government started this year's program in June but suspended it in July due to a spike of infection numbers. It will resume the program for a month from Thursday, on a trial basis.
Subsidies will be applied to reservations made from noon on Thursday and can be used for trips through September 30, including hotel check-outs on October 1.
A Tokyo resident can receive a discount of up to 5,000 yen -- or roughly 35 dollars -- for an overnight stay that costs at least 6,000 yen, or about 42 dollars. For one-day trips, a discount of around 18 dollars per person will be given for tours that cost about 21 dollars or more.
Bookings must be made with travel agencies, online travel sites, hotels and other businesses that have signed up to the program.
Travelers will need to have received three shots of a coronavirus vaccine or show a negative PCR test result to benefit from the program.