JAPAN. Japan today introduced additional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including new restrictions on inbound travel from China and South Korea.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a notice saying that entry visas issued up to 8 March by Japanese embassies or consulates in both countries would be suspended from 9 March. In addition, visa exemptions for the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions are also suspended from the same date.
The move will effectively stop the flow of visitors from China and South Korea to Japan, though the Ministry has not invalidated visas of those who have already travelled. The Ministry said the measures would last at least until the end of March and will invalidate around 3 million recently issued visas, according to Japanese media.
China and South Korea account for around half of all tourists to Japan (just under 6 million combined in 2018) and the move will have a severe impact on a travel retail sector already reeling from the crisis. Chinese visitors are the driver of recent growth in Japanese travel retail, accounting for 60-70% of turnover in airport duty free and around 90% in downtown duty free.
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