Can tourism subsidies save Japan’s coronavirus-blighted economy?

In a striking contrast of priorities, as the UK government offers discounted fast food vouchers to revitalise the restaurant and hospitality sector, the Japanese have chosen a different, healthier, method of boosting their own Corona blighted economy: half-price domestic travel. The Japanese government anticipates the move will see hordes of travellers roaming across the country indulging in the usual Japanese holiday activities of hiking, camping, making pilgrimages to shrines, and bathing in hot springs – all the while, of course, spending money.

The ‘Go To Travel’ campaign, as it has been called, is a bold and expensive (1.35 trillion yen or £10bn) initiative, and is, in theory, a good and potentially popular idea. Unfortunately, it has fallen foul of a recent spike in Corona cases, particularly in the Tokyo area (though most recently elsewhere too), which has re-spooked a population just starting to imagine a return to something approaching post-pandemic normality.