On August 28, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that it will launch the “Kyushu Recovery Support Discount” travel assistance program for stays beginning October 1. For reservations in Kyushu involving one or more nights’ stay, as well as tour packages that include transportation such as JR train tickets and airline tickets, the program will subsidize travel and accommodation costs up to 50% per person per night (60% in Kumamoto and Kagoshima).
The maximum discount amount is 20,000 yen per night for accommodation-only packages and travel packages that include transportation; 30,000 yen for travel packages that include transportation and consist of two or more nights; and 35,000 yen for multi-destination travel packages that span two or more prefectures.
It is reported that each prefecture will determine the specific start dates for reservations, the eligible stay periods, the accommodations, the travel packages, and the reservation methods (travel agencies, OTAs, etc.), and will announce them in due course.
Under this initiative, 15.5 billion yen from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s contingency fund will be distributed to prefectures throughout the Kyushu region—which was affected by the Reiwa 8 Kumamoto Earthquake—to facilitate a swift recovery in travel demand. The program is structured so that businesses (travel agencies, OTAs, and lodging facilities) sell services at discounted prices, with the prefectures covering the difference between the discounted price and the original price through subsidies provided to the businesses.
© Source travel watch