The program will continue in fiscal 2026, following on from fiscal 2024 and 2025.
On February 12, JATA (Japan Association of Travel Agents) held a regular press conference at its headquarters in Kasumigaseki to explain the “Let’s Stay on a Weekday! campaign for domestic travel.
Let’s stay on weekdays! Campaign
Eligibility: Applications for travel products involving weekday lodging of 10,000 yen or more per person
Application Period (Web site application deadline):
［Phase 1] April 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026 (Deadline: July 5, 2026)
［Phase 2] July 1 – September 30, 2026 (Deadline: October 5, 2026)
［Third period] October 1 – December 25, 2026 (Deadline: January 5)
［4th period] January 4, 2027 – March 31, 2027 (Deadline: April 5, 2027)
*Not valid on Sundays, nights before national holidays, April 25-May 6, August 8-16, and December 26-January 3.
Premiums:
Next discount coupon 30,000 yen x 20 people x 4 terms
Next discount coupon 10,000 yen x 20 people x 4 terms
Coupons can be used for domestic travel of 10,000 yen or more per person for approximately one year at JATA member travel agencies (including weekends and holidays; some member companies are not eligible).
Kenichi Nonani, Director of Domestic Travel Promotion Department, JATA, commented on the current status of domestic travel, “Consumption is expected to reach approximately 25.2 trillion yen in 2024 and far exceed that amount in 2025. He explained, “The national government is in the mood that enough is enough, and there are almost no measures to increase domestic travel.
He continued, “Currently, however, demand for domestic travel is concentrated in major cities; by November 2025, the number of overnight stays in Tokyo and Kyoto had fallen below the previous year’s level, and in Osaka, after the Expo was over, the number of stays in November was also below the previous year’s level. Although inbound travel is gradually increasing, large cities are already flattening out, and Japanese are dispersing to the regions. Against this backdrop, prices for accommodations, transportation, and tourist facilities are rising rapidly, and with many weekend crowds, reservations are becoming harder to come by. If nothing is done, it will become difficult for Japanese to travel even to the regions,” he observed.
As for other problems, he said that the current situation where Japanese people can only take off work and school during the GW, Obon, and year-end and New Year holidays is indirectly causing overtourism. Mr. Nonani said, “If this situation continues, we will not be able to accept any more inbound travel. We would like to shift demand for domestic travel to weekdays in terms of increasing sustainable income from inbound travel,” he stressed.
Let’s stay on weekdays! This is the third year for the campaign. In addition to this initiative, JATA also asked prefectural governors last year to expand the number of “Laakations” (children’s study & weekday vacations).
Mr. Nonani offers the following concrete example: “Schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area have set aside Metropolitan Citizens’ Day and Prefectural Citizens’ Day for a single vacation, but with one fixed day off, demand for travel is slow to grow. On the other hand, Aichi Prefecture has started an initiative called “Prefectural Citizens’ Day School Holiday,” which allows schools to designate one weekday between November 21 and 27 each year as a holiday, with three to four consecutive holidays set aside each year.
In addition, adults have a very poor rate of taking paid leave. For example, if an important regular meeting is set for Monday or Friday, Japanese people with a strong sense of responsibility will not be able to take time off. If the meetings were moved to the middle of the week, they could take their paid holidays on Monday and Friday and travel from Friday to Saturday or from Sunday to Monday at a more reasonable rate than on Saturday and Sunday,” he says.
He concluded by saying, “JATA will continue to appeal for ways to accelerate this kind of movement through the combined efforts of companies and schools.
© Source travel watch