Some 49% of Singaporeans say they’re contemplating Japan for his or her subsequent trip overseas, in accordance to the market analysis agency YouGov.
Interest could also be even larger amongst younger residents. Some 68% of Singaporeans aged 16 to 24 years outdated indicated they’re contemplating Japan for his or her “next vacation,” in contrast to 37% of these aged 55 and older, in accordance to analysis revealed in May.
Japan was the best choice amongst survey respondents by an excellent margin, with the second alternative, Taiwan, garnering curiosity from 39% of these surveyed. Some 26% indicated curiosity in vacationing in Malaysia, in accordance to the outcomes, however this may occasionally have been affected by the survey query, which particularly requested about travel plans “by air.”
Still, Wanping Aw, CEO of the Tokyo-based travel agency Tokudaw stated her firm noticed a big uptick in enterprise after Japan reopened its borders in June — with 50% of enquires and bookings coming from Singapore, she stated.
Why Singaporeans like Japan
Japan has at all times been a preferred vacation spot with Singaporeans, stated Aw, particularly amongst those that want a change of seasons.
Spring and winter are the 2 “peak seasons” for vacationers from Singapore, she stated: “They like cherry blossoms and snow a lot.”
Singaporean dealer Alex Ng stated he’s planning a visit to Japan this autumn.
Wanping Aw at Shinjuku Gyoen, a preferred park in Tokyo. Aw, who’s Singaporean, has lived in Japan for 13 years.
Source: Wanping Aw
A self-described “Japanophile,” Ng stated the nation strikes the “sweet spot” between the acquainted and the unknown.
He stated Japan’s security, cleanliness and professionalism are like that of Singapore, as is the tradition’s adherence to social guidelines for the collective good.
“The trains aren’t going on strike while you’re rushing back from a day trip,” he stated. “We feel comfortable operating in that structure. It’s familiar to how we live here, probably why most Singaporeans like Switzerland too.”
The meals can be acquainted — rice-based with components like fish, pork and tofu — however it “branches off from there in a myriad of fascinating directions.”
Alex Ng stated most Singaporeans benefit from the intricacies of Japanese tradition. “It’s cathartic and inspiring to experience it.”
Source: Alex Ng
He stated he additionally appreciates the spiritual variations between the 2 international locations.
“We’re fortunate to have a range of religions here in Singapore,” he stated. But “Shintoism, which informs much of Japanese life and culture — especially their architecture, aesthetics, cultivation and upkeep of natural spaces — is fairly different from what we grew up around.”
And the cherry blossoms? “Hundreds of years were spent cultivating tens of thousands of cherry blossom trees … for a few weeks of vibrant festivities every year.”
“I’ve yet to tire of the spectacle,” he stated.
Confusion abounds
Singapore is one in every of greater than 100 international locations and territories marked “blue” in Japan’s color-coded entrance classification system.
Travelers from these locations should not required to take a Covid-19 check or quarantine on arrival, or be vaccinated to enter. Visas and pre-flight Covid-19 PCR assessments are required although, in accordance to the website for the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.
But the necessities past this have left many vacationers confused, stated Aw.
This is particularly true of the rule permitting vacationers to enter “only when a travel agency among others organizing the trip serves as the receiving organization of the entrants,” as said by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Websites like these use “language that talks in loops,” stated Aw.
Everyone is confused and pressured in regards to the visa utility course of.
“And this misunderstanding is escalated with the fact that the Japanese embassies are using the word — package tour,” she stated. This conjures up photographs of “30 to 40 strangers in a big bus, going on a fixed route with a pre-fixed itinerary.”
But this is not correct, she stated.
One particular person can e-book a “package tour,” she stated, including that she’s organized three solo travel bookings — together with one from Singapore — since Japan’s borders opened in June.
The time period “pre-fixed itinerary” can be befuddling potential vacationers.
“Everyone seems to have the impression that they have to fix their itinerary down to the hour or minute … that it is difficult to come up with,” she stated. “But it is not as hard as it seems.”
Another downside — “everyone is confused and stressed about the visa application process,” she stated.
To apply for a vacationer visa, vacationers want to plan an itinerary and e-book their flights and lodging earlier than she will course of their “ERFS certificates,” she stated, referencing an approval doc that guests want earlier than they will apply for his or her visas.
Only Japanese corporations can apply for the certificates, nonetheless vacationers can work via tour companies of their dwelling international locations, who in flip work with their native companions in Japan, she stated.
Once an ERFS certificates is obtained, vacationers can apply for his or her visas, stated Aw.
Lastly, the chaperone
In addition to working with an company, worldwide vacationers should additionally travel with a chaperone “at all times,” stated Aw.
Guests should pay for the chaperone, who’s an worker of the travel company, stated Aw. But on the upside, chaperones can help with issues like restaurant reservations and practice schedules to make journeys run smoother, she stated.
A chaperoned journey is not a deal-breaker for Ng, nor are the remainder of Japan’s travel guidelines, he stated. However he stated he would most likely travel to Japan extra usually if the principles have been much less cumbersome.
For now, Ng stated he is optimistic.
“There’s an excellent likelihood that Japan relaxes restrictions additional quickly, provided that elections are now over,” he stated.
Ng stated he is secured his flights and inns — however not his visa — on the belief that, come autumn, the principles could also be totally different.
Aw stated many different Singaporeans are doing the identical factor. They are planning, however pushing off the method to apply for his or her visas “for as long as they can,” she stated.
