EXCLUSIVE: Japan Eyes Intensive Aid to Promote Regional Tourism

Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Tourism Agency plans to launch a subsidy program for so-called destination management/marketing organizations, or DMOs, beyond regional boundaries in a bid to provide intensive support to activities designed to attract tourists to regional areas, Jiji Press learned Monday. Specifically, the agency is considering subsidizing two-thirds of costs for measures to attract tourists based on the strategies formulated by DMOs, informed sources said. With the program, the agency aims to disperse inbound tourists through regional tourism promotion and curb overtourism in major cities. It plans to earmark necessary expenses in its budget request for fiscal 2026, which starts next April. Under the program, wide-area DMOs will draw up strategies to guide their activities for three to five years as well as concrete business plans. After government approval of these strategies, the cost of activities such as developing travel products and promotion will be subsidized. The government will also subsidize half of expenses for introducing artificial intelligence to improve the operational efficiency of wide-area DMOs. The government has established various subsidy programs for local governments, DMOs and private companies to promote tourism. Still, as about 70 pct of foreign visitors to Japan are concentrated in major urban areas, the government has decided to promote efforts using the framework of wide-area DMOs to increase the number of tourists to regional areas and facilitate long-term stays there. The subsidies will be financed by proceeds from the so-called departure tax. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]