Japanese authorities announced today that they will begin conducting a "tourism test" with limited package deals this month as a way to obtain information before the country reopens for tourist visits.

Although tourism has been one of the mainstays of the Japanese economy, the country has been closed to tourists since 2020 from the very beginning of the coronavirus epidemic.

Regulations were loosened to allow students and some business travelers to enter, but individual tourist visits remained banned despite requests from tourism operators to restart the yen at a time when the yen is at its lowest level in 20 years.

The tourism agency announced today that from the end of the month it will start allowing "trial" entry for small group tours, to see how it will affect the epidemiological situation before the full opening of the country for tourists, which has not yet been announced as a date. .

Initially, the country is open to triple-vaccinated tourists from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Singapore, only through strictly arranged arrangements and selected tour operators.