【CCTV9】赴日旅游簽證進一步放寬(視頻)

Japan's Foreign Ministry has announced that it will further relax requirements for Chinese individual tourist visas. Under the new regulations, more Chinese residents will be able to qualify for a Japanese tourist visa than ever before. Xia Qiu tells us how the Chinese tourist market is reacting to the new policy.

The current rules require visa applicants to meet certain occupational requirements. These are set to be removed from September the first, although financial requirements will remain. The new rules will also allow visitors to stay in the country for up to 30 days, compared to 15 days at present. This means tourists will have a plenty of time to enjoy Japanese culture.

Xia Qiu, Beijing, said, "This is the second move for Japan to relax its Chinese tourist visa rules over the last two months. In July, Japan began issuing multiple-entry visas for wealthy Chinese nationals. These changes show the government’s strong determination of boosting Japanese tourism industry."

Yasuhiro Iijima, Chief Representative, Bejing Office, Jaoan National Tourism org., said, "Last year 1 million 47 thousand Chinese tourists visited Japan. We hope the number can reach 3.9 million by 2013, and 6 million by 2016. Now Chinese tourism to Japan is rebounding quickly. Judging from the current situation, it will recover to the level before the earthquake by the time of the Chinese National day."

Tourism in Japan has been severely affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March eleventh disaster. In June, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan dropped some forty percent compared to the previous year. Apart from softening visa rules, Japan is trying hard to convince tourists that there are no dangerous levels of radiation in the country beyond the area immediately around the nuclear power plants.

But, it appears that some travellers still have concerns.

Tourist, said,"The new visa rules aren’t so appealing to me. I was eligible for a visa before. And if I traveled to Japan, I'd stay at their less than 8 days."

Tourist, said,"I thought about choosing Japan as my vacation destination. But I'm still worrying about the radiation from the plant. I think the new visa policy would be more appealing without the nuclear crisis."

Some travel agents say, due to language differences and travel habits, only a few customers choose to travel to Japan outside a group tour. This limits the number of travellers who stand to benefit from the new individual visa rules. The agencies are continuing to focus on promoting Japan group tours at reduced prices and improved service.

Zhou Jing, Director of Japanese of Japanese Division, Chin Int's Travel Service ltd., said, "Japan group tour prices were extremely low in May and June. With the recovery of Japanese tourism, the prices have risen with demand, but not back to the previous level yet. Our Japan product price reduction is around 1000 to 3000 Yuan. However, the quality is even better -- the public's comments are key to the country's tourism recovery."

Japan has also shortened its group visa approval process for Chinese travelers from 5 to 3 days from July this year.