The pandemic dealt the travel industry a heavy blow. But since October, when Tokyo was added to the government’s “Go To Travel” discount, users of the program have surged. We asked Mainichi Shimbun Travel, the agency on the basement first floor of the Palaceside Building: “Tokyo residents are now eligible as well, and things are recovering. A light has begun to show,” they said, feeling the response.
Go To Travel discounts 35 percent of the trip price and adds coupons worth 15 percent of the fare for local souvenir shops and restaurants (both with caps). Mainichi Shimbun Travel analyzes: “The popular plans fly or take the shinkansen a long way and stay two or three nights. The discount is simply larger.”
The company’s COVID-19 measures include asking tour guests to wear masks, wash hands, and observe cough etiquette, and they put effort into checking health during the tour. On chartered buses they ventilate thoroughly and sometimes give one person two seats to avoid crowding.
Open the company’s website and attractive plans line up: autumn-leaf spots, gourmet trips, local railways. In front of the Palaceside Building office, colorful flyers are piled high. For now it is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.